Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses.
I'm going to begin with a statement to Mr. Dumas.
I appreciated your comments clarifying child labour. With my own background, growing up on a family farm, my parents did not interfere with my education, and the four daughters on our own farm were raised with love and an encouragement to work. So I understand those nuances.
I have not brought tomatoes to this committee yet, but I will today, because that is my background.
I'd like to go to Mr. Brown, please.
The world produces about 37.2 million tonnes of processed tomato products. China did 6.2 million tonnes last year, of which five million came from Xinjiang province. There are certainly allegations of forced labour from the Uighur population, particularly in the tomato industry. I'm wondering if you have any comments or any specific knowledge regarding exactly the extent of that.
I grew up hand-picking tomatoes and my kids grew up on a machine. My understanding is that most of the production is hand-harvested and forced in China.
Do you have any comments specifically on the tomato industry?