Good morning. Thank you for the invitation to talk with the committee. I am speaking on behalf of myself and our company, Silver Valley Farms.
I will start with a little background on our company. My grandfather and father started our operation. We have been growing berries in Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, British Columbia, since 1981. Our business has grown from 21 acres, including both blueberries and strawberries, to 525 acres of blueberries and 20 acres of strawberries today.
We expanded our operations into marketing and exporting of fresh berries in 2004. We started marketing and exporting frozen berries in 2010. We currently market and distribute our Canadian products into the domestic market, into the U.S. and also into various Asian markets. We also sell a small amount into the U.K. market.
We strongly believe that the federal and provincial governments can play a positive role in helping businesses like ours compete in the global market. I will mention a few areas where we feel the government can support Canadian agribusinesses to increase their global market presence and their global competitiveness.
The first area is to harmonize scientific data requirements for pesticide registration with countries with which we have a free trade agreement. Crop protection tools are a critical element of producing food, whether we are practising organic or conventional farming. Changes in the environment are constantly having an impact and the challenges are faced by producers nationwide. For the safety of Canadians, we agree that the Pest Management Regulatory Agency needs to maintain sovereignty over final decisions. However, we should work with other countries to streamline decision-making. If the countries with which we have an FTA worked together using the same data requirements from pesticide manufacturers, this could help reduce the time and cost for all countries to review and decide on different regulations and maximum residue limits. Each country could work with the same data. Then we could make decisions for our respective countries based on our own standards, taking into account different domestic variables. We have done similar harmonizing with our U.S. partners, but we should now include other regions with which we have signed free trade agreements.
The second area where we feel we need progress is protection, like the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, PACA, in the U.S. Two House of Commons standing committees—the agriculture and agri-food committee and the finance committee—have recommended a move towards a PACA-like system, yet we still do not have a program in place. The absence of a reciprocal financial protection tool continues to be a trade irritant with our largest trading partner, the United States.
Canadian produce growers and exporters do not have the protection offered their American counterparts under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. Establishment of a PACA-like financial protection mechanism would provide similar protection in Canada to both Canadian and foreign produce shippers. American officials have repeatedly confirmed that access for Canadians to PACA in the U.S.A. would be reinstated once Americans have access to similar coverage in Canada.
Dealing with perishable food products is very risky. For small businesses, a PACA-like system would allow us to take that risk more confidently when exporting to the U.S.A.
The third area is continued market development assistance and trade commissioner office investments. I'm thankful for the vision in pursuit of FTAs globally where it makes economic and geopolitical strategic sense. We need continued support to open up markets in Asia that were not included in the CPTPP and other global markets as well.
Furthermore, we need continued investment in trade commissioner offices globally. Having an FTA is a major accomplishment and takes a lot of hard work over years of negotiations. However, for small businesses to take advantage of those FTAs, trade commissioner offices require adequate resources and direction to connect Canadian businesses with market players in each of the countries.
I've witnessed how our business and those of our domestic competitors were, and continue to be, assisted by trade commissioner offices globally. I've also seen times when trade commissioner offices were underinvested in and, as a result, impacted Canadian businesses' access to market intelligence and contact in a market with a newly signed FTA.
The fourth area is for the CFIA to increase its defence of the Canadian food chain. With new FTAs, opportunities to export Canadian products to global markets increase. In addition, opportunities to import products into Canada grow as well. There are many differences globally on the definition of what constitutes food safety. Canadian producers are held to a very high standard by domestic standards and regulations. The CFIA should be given the direction and resources needed to ensure that all products imported into Canada also meet those same standards for what we produce here.
The fifth area where we feel that government can continue support of agri-food business is in investment in higher education and skills development. Agriculture is a growing and dynamic sector of the global economy. If the Canadian government continues to value the food industry, more needs to be done to build higher education programs and skills that the domestic food industry can count on for growth. Companies are having to rely on foreign nationals to fill their food technology vacancies and for management of their food operations, farm practices operations, food safety programs, and information technology research and development. Domestic education and training programs have not been producing these key people who are required for the agri-food industry in the numbers needed to support growth.
Last, I feel the government can support industry by staying ahead of the curve. Markets are changing. Climate is changing. Consumers are changing. Geopolitics have not been this uncertain in decades. Our government and private businesses need to work together in a much more unified manner to remain globally competitive. There needs to be constant dialogue to discuss those challenges, and decisions will need to be made in a much more timely manner than we have been accustomed to in the past.
Thank you, Mr. Chair. That concludes my opening statement.