Agriculture Committee on Nov. 28th, 2022

[Tom Rosser]

Mr. Chair, I'd say, as I described earlier, we haven't done a formal analysis of this, in part because it's very hard to estimate what the next few months will bring. That said, we have looked carefully at the volumes of production and the volumes of exports from Ukraine, and have considered what the scenarios are. As we described previously, we think it improbable that the volumes of a product that are likely to arrive will be material to the operation of the supply-managed system.

That said, given the uncertainty, we'll continue to monitor the situation very carefully and remain actively engaged with sector stakeholders.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Okay.

Very quickly, does anybody want to comment on the possibility, if we think about renewing this agreement, of whether we could carve out supply-managed goods? I ask because there doesn't seem to be any market for that.

Hearing none—

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, John Barlow]

We'll move on.

[Tom Rosser]

Our analysis, to date, has been based on the assumption that this situation will last until June 7. Our work is proceeding on that basis.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, John Barlow]

Thanks, Mr. Rosser.

It's now the final round. Mr. Lehoux has five minutes.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I would like to thank the witnesses for being with us this afternoon.

My first question is for one of the representatives of the Department of Agriculture and Agri-food.

Mr. Rosser, why would Canada authorize the importation of poultry products from Ukraine?

Regarding that question, I will repeat: I want to help Ukraine, but I don't want us to be robbing Peter to pay Paul, or vice versa.

Why are the Americans not accepting Ukrainian poultry products when Canada would accept them? What is the reason?

[Tom Rosser]

Thank you for your question.

I can't say why the United States decided as it did. As I said earlier, Canada is not the only country that has improved access to its markets for poultry and other goods in order to help Ukraine; the United Kingdom and the European Union have done the same thing.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Rosser.

Along the same line, given all the problems associated with bird flu, something that was in fact raised by my colleagues earlier, what would the risk be if the importation of raw poultry were authorized? Why not import only cooked products, and not raw products? We know that if products are frozen, if they are cooked, there is less risk. Why not limit the exports to cooked products?

[Tom Rosser]

With respect to animal health, I don't know whether my colleagues at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency can answer your question. I think they are in a better position than I am to answer you.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

If the representatives of the Agency can answer my question, I will ask them to reserve their answer, because I want to ask them another question quickly.

Initially, you said that the first ten cargoes from three different companies were audited in order to obtain authorization to export to Canada. However, for the future, in terms of the various inspections done by the Agency, is it like in the past, when one cargo in ten was audited? Is that still the case?

[Kathleen Donohue]

Thank you for your question.

Yes, that is the usual process. After the ten inspections, between one and ten cargoes would be audited.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

With respect to my first question, why not authorize imports of only cooked products?

[Kathleen Donohue]

I just want to say that all food sold in Canada, whether frozen or cooked, has to comply with federal regulations in Canada. The three Ukrainian poultry establishments have met those requirements.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Donohue.

I will now let my colleague John Nater have the floor.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Rosser, did the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food recommend to Finance Canada that supply management be included in the remission order?

[Tom Rosser]

We certainly have ongoing dialogue with the Department of Finance. I don't recall our providing advice on that matter, no.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Would you suggest that it should be in there?

[Tom Rosser]

I only heard a portion of the earlier testimony from the Department of Finance, when they described the process that ultimately led to their minister making a recommendation. As I said, we certainly have ongoing dialogue with Finance on matters related to agriculture.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Thanks for that.

I offer the observation that it's a great time for us to reaffirm our support for supply management. Hopefully, the department and minister will do that, in this case.

My question is for CFIA and Ms. Donohue.

Do you have certainty that there are no cases of avian influenza in Ukraine? You mentioned that there haven't been any cases reported, but do you have assurances there haven't been any in the last year?

[Kathleen Donohue]

As noted previously, we have no evidence that there are cases of AI. Ukrainian officials have not reported anything to the WOAH, or to other trading partners, as they are obliged to. We have no evidence.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

On a risk-based approach, are you comfortable with that?

[Kathleen Donohue]

Yes, we are comfortable with that.

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

You mentioned earlier that there were sanitation concerns, and you were provided assurances by your Ukrainian officials that they had addressed certain issues.

Would you accept the same assurances from a Canadian processor without physically inspecting the facility?

[Kathleen Donohue]

We saw those initial assurances. In fact, after meeting with our industry, they outlined a number of areas of concern, and we then met again with Ukrainian officials to seek their assurances, and, as I said, we also received those assurances in writing.

As my colleague Dr. Kanwal Kochar has mentioned, too, upon receipt of any imports from these establishments, they undergo 10 full inspections, so based on that, we're comfortable.