In the United States, the federal and state templates are very, very similar. It's simply a matter of how they are implemented at the state and federal levels.
I have some knowledge of inspection systems all around the world, and no two systems are more closely aligned than those of Canada and the United States. It has been this way for a long time. You have had your food-borne illness outbreaks; we have too. We've tried to minimize them through a variety of cooperative programs with the government and the industry. I headed up our foundation, and we funded $6 million to $7 million worth of research. We even dealt with intervention systems like pre-harvest work on E. coli, looking at additives in food products for retarding growth of listeria organisms. That money has been leveraged about ten to one with government, private, and university dollars.
The crux of the issue is not the inspection system. You have to have a partner in the industry, and the partner in the industry has to be willing to step forward and do what's right. We have a pretty good track record, but it's not perfect. There is a lot more work to be done, but I can say that we're moving in the right direction. Judging by the efforts being undertaken here in Canada following the recent listeria outbreak, I would say that you're also moving in the right direction.