I started working for CropLife Canada about two and a half years ago, and I had a career with the government on the regulatory side before then.
I asked my members, what do you think about the Canadian regulatory system, what are the issues, and so on? Without any hesitation, exception, they all said Canada's regulatory system is world class; it's the best in the world, the most science-based, the most predictable, and they're very happy operating in Canada.
What they're talking about are regulatory regimes in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that cover the environmental safety assessment of these new crops and the livestock feed safety assessments. Then at Health Canada, there's the food safety assessment that takes place.
The three streams of regulations, as I understand it, work very closely together, and not one of them will make a final decision until the other two have as well. We have a “no split approval process” in Canada. Until all three are satisfied, a product would not be authorized for cultivation and marketing in Canada. I think we have a very good and robust regulatory system in Canada, to be proud of.