I am just giving you a warning, because this could happen.
I would like to come back to the issue of nutritional labelling. Some municipalities have called for a moratorium on the implementation of new standards on nutritional labelling for small manufacturing businesses of one million dollars or less. We have had a great deal of trouble following this issue, because not all small producers have been reached, or they do not really understand how these new standards work.
I am somewhat surprised at your answer. These municipalities sent you a request for a moratorium and you replied to them, or one of your assistants did, by saying that this was out of the question. You tell me that this involves Agriculture Canada. And yet, this letter from Health Canada was sent by your office.
This is extremely complicated. Throughout the summer, I tried to understand myself how this regulation would be enforced. We heard that the laboratory analysis would cost $800 for each product, and that otherwise, it would be analyzed using software. The cost of the software varies between $500 and $3,000. There is a whole range of steps that can be taken, but you will appreciate that small producers may not have all the tools they need to do the analysis and proceed properly. What should small producers do in order to comply with your nutritional labelling standards?
They called for a moratorium. The officials have told us that there might not be any sanctions, but that is not clear. Could you issue a directive in the interest of helping out small producers?