Thank you very much.
Thank you to the witnesses for being here.
I found your presentation quite informative, Ms. Sava.
You told us that when attempting to enter the Japanese market, you were faced with different standards, such as identifying chemical ingredients in your products and the level of biodegradability. The biodegradability concern must be unique to Japan, as a country with extremely strict environmental protection standards.
You also mentioned the testing to determine the effects on the skin. I imagine you had to obtain all kinds of certifications and go through multiple steps. You also stressed the lack of experts or people who could explain the procedure to follow in order to gain access to the Japanese market and export your products.
I am sure you had to incur costs associated with other non-tariff barriers that we didn't have time to get into. Could you tell us what those costs were and whether they could have been avoided if you'd had access to certain resources?