Thank you, Mr. Gourde.
I would say that we should save both the chicken and the egg. The only reason those proteins are imported today is that processors are looking for ways to reduce their costs. All Agropur can do is jump on the bandwagon. We are on the market, competing with major players, and we have no choice but to use the same tools as others. That being said, diafiltered milk was created to circumvent rules at the border and manufacturing rules. I can guarantee that no one in the United States manufactures cheese using liquid protein concentrates with protein levels of 85%. Processors don't do that. It does not exist.
In Canada, processors are using that product now—and Agropur has to do it because of competition—for one reason, and that is cost savings. But that makes no sense because cost savings cannot benefit producers. At the end of the day, processors do not benefit from those savings. Profitability is achieved only after the processing stage.
However, the study carried out by the Boston Consulting Group on a global scale has shown that there was no link between the price paid by the consumer and the income earned by the producer. The price of dairy products has not decreased for Canadian consumers. As processors, we have to be competitive. We don't have a choice. We're trying to go along with the way things are going, but honestly, this has to stop because the entire industry is doing it to the detriment of supply management and the system.