Evidence of meeting #92 for Agriculture and Agri-Food in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was products.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director General, Health and Food Safety, European Commission
No. I think Canada has asked to have this tabled at the AGRI committee meeting, which is going to take place in April.
Director General, Health and Food Safety, European Commission
It's not—
Conservative
John Barlow Conservative Foothills, AB
I'm sorry. I have one last question and then I'm going to pass this over to my colleague.
When we compare our systems in terms of the CFIA and the European Union, does the European Union send food inspectors to other foreign countries to inspect products before they are shipped to the EU?
Director General, Health and Food Safety, European Commission
No. We call that a pre-clearance, and the CETA is saying that we should not apply pre-clearance between our two parties, so we don't do that. We don't inspect consignments at the exporting territory to see whether they can maybe trade it to the EU. What we do is audits. We send inspectors from our inspectorate to all countries around the world, also in the EU and Canada, to apply system audits to see whether your system still does what it should do, but not at establishments or at the product level. We don't apply that.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
Once again, just to add to what Mr. Barlow was talking about on the durum wheat and the glyphosate, you have said that Italy took on a concept where they're saying that they want to justify this with respect to science. I'm just wondering whether, when things like that are proven to be not true and not correct, there is a provision for damages to be given back to the aggrieved party.
Director General, Health and Food Safety, European Commission
I'm sorry. I cannot speak about that. It's not really an SPS thing. It's indeed also on the AGRI committee. We are working on it at a high level on the EU side, so I think I'm not allowed to say anything about it at this point.
Conservative
Earl Dreeshen Conservative Red Deer—Mountain View, AB
I know that Canada has some great HACCP plans and traceability and that type of thing. It's good to hear that the EU also has HACCP plans. Hopefully, they are working together, which of course makes it so much easier for us to be able to work together.
Thank you very much.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Thank you, Mr. Dreeshen.
This concludes our session. I certainly want to again thank both of you for being here. It was a very interesting conversation. I think that when we talk and dialogue, that's how we're going to ensure that both Canada and the EU will have a long-term relationship for the benefit of both of us.
Again, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon. Have a good day.
Director General, Health and Food Safety, European Commission
It was an honour. Have a good meeting. Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
We will suspend the meeting right now and resume in camera.
[Proceedings continue in camera]
[Public proceedings resume]
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Welcome back to our study on the advancements of technology and research in the agriculture industry that can support Canadian exports.
With us for these 45 minutes or so, we have, from the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Mr. Tom Rosser, assistant deputy minister, strategic policy branch.
Welcome, Mr. Rosser.
We also have with us Mr. Brian T. Gray, Assistant Deputy Minister, Science and Technology Branch.
Mr. Gray, welcome again.
We also have with us Mr. Marco Valicenti, Director General, Sector Development and Analysis Directorate, Market and Industry Service Branch.
Welcome, Mr. Valicenti.
Mr. Rosser, I think you're going to do the opening statement. You have seven minutes.
Tom Rosser Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. On my behalf and that of my colleagues, I want to thank you and the committee for the opportunity to be here this afternoon to talk to you a bit about what we see as some of the more exciting technological developments in the agricultural and agrifood industries in the years ahead. I also want to speak with the committee about how we as a department and the government as a whole try to be a partner in accelerating the innovation process within the sector.
Advancements in technology and research go hand in hand with innovation. Combined, they breed the solutions necessary to increase productivity, sustainability, and growth in the sector, and they help our producers and processors capture new opportunities in the global marketplace. When it comes to science, AAFC uses an approach based on partnerships, working with industry, universities and colleges, and others to provide the science that enhances the sector's resiliency, fosters new areas of opportunity, and supports sector competitiveness. Partnerships and collaboration leverage federal research investments and bring together necessary capacities across institutions to help focus research on areas of benefit and importance to the sector.
As no doubt many of you will be aware, in budget 2017 the Government of Canada announced an ambitious target to grow Canada's agriculture and agrifood exports to $75 billion. Advancements in technology and research, particularly those transformative in nature, such as artificial intelligence, the bioeconomy, and the latest in breeding technologies, will be critical in helping to increase Canada's agrifood exports to meet this new target.
Agriculture is increasingly critical to Canada's economic growth and well-being, and people are noticing. Last year, we hit a new record of $62 billion in agriculture and food exports. That's up 80% over the past decade. Those exports added over $10 billion to our national balance of trade. We're one of the top five agricultural exporters in the world and on a per capita basis, we're the world's largest agricultural trader.
Driving this growth has been an impressive pace of scientific advancement. The strengths of Canada's agriculture sector are its trusted food supply, resource availability, arable land position, and strong research clusters.
In the coming decades we'll see an enormous increase in the demand for safe, nutritious, and high-quality food, with the global population expected to reach a little over 9.5 billion people by the middle of this century from a current base of a little over 7 billion today. Global demand for food is expected to increase by about 60% in the decades ahead, meaning that the world will need to produce in the next 40 years or so an amount of food equivalent to what humanity produced in the preceding 10,000. Promoting advancements in technology and research will ensure that our producers and processors are well-positioned to meet this demand and to grow our presence in the global marketplace in a sustainable way.
Earlier in the week, MinisterMacAulay announced the clean technology program, a $25-million three-year investment that will help agriculture reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the development and adoption of clean technologies. This investment will help Canadian farmers stay on the cutting edge of clean technology by targeting developments in bioproducts and precision agriculture. Our government has made both agriculture and clean technology a priority for growth in our economy. This new program will contribute to Canada's place as a world leader in agricultural clean technology, helping farmers to develop new and efficient uses of energy while also protecting our environmental resources and mitigating climate change.
Transformative technology holds tremendous promise in the agriculture and agrifood sector. AAFC scientists and policy-makers are working in this space. Continued focus on these areas will help to add value to Canada's agricultural sector and have already made impacts on our producers' and processors' ability to meet the $75-billion target.
Innovative technologies are consistently being developed and used across the sector, but there are barriers that continue to inhibit them from attaining their full potential. These barriers include the overall cost of investment, insufficient infrastructure, undeveloped supply chains, and a lack of training or professionals to work through the complexities of adoption, among others.
Ultimately, adoption takes place when those innovations are judged to be worthwhile investments in the respective operation. The adoption of transformative technologies and products is what drives innovation and is key to the sector's continued productivity growth and increased competitiveness.
Biotechnology involves the manipulation of living organisms, or their parts, to produce useful products, such as medicines and pest resistant or herbicide-tolerant crops.
New plant breeding technologies have been developed in recent decades that enhance our understanding of plant and animal genetics, and can be used to address environmental, social and economic goals. The science community worldwide increasingly depends on advanced biotechnologies to understand genes responsible for traits such as high yields, disease and insect resistance and quality, to help meet the world's growing demand for food.
In 2016, Canada ranked fourth in the world for total area planted with biotech crops. In 2015, the cumulative economic benefit of biotech crops to farm income in Canada was $1.2 billion. CropLife Canada, an organization representing plant science companies that make plant biotechnology for agriculture use, estimates about 71% of Canada's trade balance in crops is the result of innovations in GM plant and crop protection products.
AAFC has projects that explore gene editing techniques in crops, including advanced genetic technologies for yield improvements and herbicide tolerance of camelina and canola.
It is also looking at controlling fire blight and scab in Canadian apple orchards through management strategies and genetic resistance.
Like biotechnology, the area of agricultural machinery is constantly changing, adapting, and advancing in ways that allow the sector to respond to emerging challenges and opportunities.
Disruptive technologies have found their way into agriculture. These technologies include things such as precision agriculture, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology and can enable a wide range of activities. Approximately half of Canadian farms have implemented some form of innovation on their farm in the past three years.
Precision agriculture can be broadly defined as a management strategy that uses a wide range of technologies to guide targeted actions. In essence, it tries to take the intuition and guesswork out of farming by allowing producers to harness the power of big data. For example, new precision farming technologies are helping farmers reduce pesticide and fertilizer usage. Farmers are checking their animals from their smartphones and mapping their fields with the power of big data. They're making decisions about harvesting their crops based on satellite imagery.
Technological advancement has also helped Canadian beef producers reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. The uptake has already contributed to Canada's ability to be a major player on the global agriculture stage.
AAFC also has significant capacity in precision agriculture. My colleague Dr. Gray is better placed than I to speak in detail about this, but we're working with the industry in experimenting with the use of drones, for example, for precision management of irrigation and sustainable precision livestock farming.
Precision agriculture relies on big data and, of course, humans have a finite capacity to analyze and process data, so we're also excited about the possibilities of applications of artificial intelligence in the agricultural sector. Artificial intelligence combines problem-solving and decision-making to achieve goals that typically rely on some combination of data, software, sensors, the Internet, and cellular networks.
Systems powered by AI are able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. In the context of agriculture and food production, AI helps achieve the overarching goals of precision agriculture by analyzing data collected on farm and converting it into information that can be used by farmers to help make better farm management decisions.
Within AAFC, and in the agriculture and agrifood sector more generally, there's increased interest and excitement about blockchain technology. Blockchain can benefit the agriculture and agrifood sector in offering several advantages over traditional methods of transacting, including enhanced transparency, improved traceability, and increased efficiency. Blockchain is a digital database that securely transmits any type of information without a central authority. Recognizing its benefits, the agriculture sector is examining its application to help in the management of supply chains by improving security and traceability.
The bioeconomy is well positioned to boost exports from Canada's agriculture and agrifood sectors. Bioproducts from agricultural crops, residues, and wastes are already helping farmers find new uses for waste products and enter new markets. In 2015 the revenue from non-conventional industrial bioproducts in Canada was estimated at $4.27 million. This helps power the transition to the low-carbon economy, boosts the farmer's bottom line, and helps the sector mitigate climate change. Advancements in research and development and the commercialization of new technologies are needed for the agriculture-based bioeconomy to continue growing.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Mr. Rosser, I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're going to be pressed for time. We will have to leave because there's a bell at around 5:15, I think,so if you can conclude...? Everybody has received your presentation and can consult it.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Have they?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
We want to make sure that we have some questions. Everybody is agreed, so could you conclude? Then we'll go to questions.
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Okay, Mr. Chair. Perhaps I'll conclude there and thank the members for their attention. My colleagues and I are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Pat Finnigan
Okay, and we'll certainly go through the rest of your presentation.
We'll start the questions.
Mr. Berthold, you have six minutes.
Conservative
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon. I would like to thank the witnesses for being with us. It's a pleasure to see you.
I have two main questions for you.
On Monday, we had a four-hour meeting on grain transportation. The great crisis affecting us has become recurrent. If we do nothing, we can invent all kinds of stories, the crisis can happen again. You mentioned a number of times the objective of increasing Canadian exports to $75 billion. However, it's impossible without transportation. We won't be able to achieve this goal.
Does your department plan to develop policies to help us deal with this crisis?
Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Policy Branch, Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Thank you for the question.
Yes, we are very concerned, in the department and in the government, about some of the problems we have seen recently in the grain sector's rail transportation system. Fortunately, we have seen in recent weeks some data that shows an improvement in the performance of the system. There is currently a bill under consideration in the Senate that we think is going to give rise to a more balanced and effective system in the long term.
In the grain sector, we see variations from year to year. Usually, the increase is 2% to 2.5% per year. Thanks to technology and investments in technology, the harvest is growing year by year. Infrastructure investments must be made to ensure that the system can grow at the same pace as the harvest. Budget 2017 included a $2 billion program to invest in our transportation system for export. We are waiting for our colleagues in the Department of Transport to announce the projects that will be funded. The first series of funded projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
Conservative