Good evening.
The mandate of the Canadian Grain Commission is defined for us under the Canada Grain Act. It states that we, the Canadian Grain Commission, are to establish and maintain standards of quality. We are to regulate grain handling in Canada and ensure that the grain is a dependable and safe commodity.
We basically certify the quality, grain safety, and weight of grain. We are the group that sets the grade and the standards for grain in Canada for 21 grades under the Canada Grain Act. When we set those grades and standards for grain quality, they're based on scientific research that is done in a grain research lab at the Canadian Grain Commission. In our grades and standards, we describe the quality of the grain. It's based on end-use quality. It's supported by scientific research, and we review those grades regularly.
In fact, today in Winnipeg the Western Standards Committee was meeting to discuss the quality of the standard for this year, and tomorrow the Eastern Standards Committee will be meeting also. The result of all of this is that our customers get consistent quality each and every year. They know what they're going to get.
What we do at the end of the day is the most important thing of all. After a sale is made, be it by the Canadian Wheat Board or by another exporter, we grade that grain as it's loaded onto the vessel. We grade every 2,000 tonnes, and those 2,000-tonne increments must meet the standard and quality of the grade that has been sold.
At the end of the shipment, we provide a certificate final, and that certificate final says the grade of grain that has been loaded onto the boat and the weight of that grain that has been loaded onto the boat. We provide that to the exporter, who then provides it to the end-use customer. That certificate final is what our end-use customer is looking for.
When it comes to quality, the Canadian Grain Commission has been doing this for 100 years, and we will continue to do that.