Agriculture committee  Certainly, Mr. Storseth. The Canadian Grain Commission's fees were frozen in the mid-1990s at 1991 levels. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to realize that's going to cause some issues when you're mandated to provide services under the Canada Grain Act. In other words, it's the law of the land.

Agriculture committee  The Canadian brand is extremely important. We've been very successful in maintaining that. It's the reason many foreign customers buy Canadian grain, because they can usually get it closer. Oftentimes, they can get it cheaper, but for a lot of the blends that they need for their flour, they need the certain types of quality that we have.

Agriculture committee  I think we have to be very cautious in that area. There may be some possibilities to do some things along that line, but there are a couple of things. First of all, companies may ask why they have to have the Canadian Grain Commission do outward inspection when the customer says he's happy with an SGS inspection.

Agriculture committee  —what I can say is we have heard, as you heard from previous witnesses, that the public good is a component that needs to be evaluated. That's something the government has to do. We follow directions. In the current plan—

Agriculture committee  —there is about $5 million of public good—

Agriculture committee  I was. Once upon a time I even sat on this committee.

Agriculture committee  Thanks, Mr. Valeriote. Certainly, you're correct. It's an issue that we've heard a lot about over the time we've been consulting on the current legislation, our user fees, and even previous consultations. As a public servant, I can't comment on what my opinion or that of the commission would be.

Agriculture committee  Security is mandatory now, not always in the form of bonding. There are other financial instruments. We are currently reviewing an insurance model. We haven't finalized that process, but it's our understanding that it will still be mandatory for licensees to make the system work.

Agriculture committee  Certainly, we have a long history of cooperation working with the CFIA because, while I won't say our roles overlap, they border each other. We're involved in common phytosanitary issues and, as you mentioned, the variety registration is probably the area where we have to work most closely together.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Lemieux. It's an excellent question. It's one that the commission has grappled with for decades. When I assumed my position and did some research, I found that for quite some time, committees, other professional research groups, and other stakeholders, had a lot of input into what the Canadian Grain Commission should look like and what we should be.

Agriculture committee  No, there used to be kernel visual distinguishability in western Canada. It was about the only part of the world where it was still used, and that was discontinued back in 2008, I believe.

Agriculture committee  We do.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Atamanenko, that's an excellent question. First of all, when it comes to inward inspection, it's very rare that producers can request an inward inspection because producers have already received settlement for the grain; the grade and price have been determined. The only exception would be producer cars, and that's where inward inspection will be required to establish a grade.

Agriculture committee  We still use a visual system. Kernel visual distinguishability was a requirement that if new varieties were brought forward for registration, particularly wheat varieties, they could only be registered if you could visually distinguish them from varieties in other classes. In other words, you had to be able to distinguish the difference between a hard red winter wheat and a hard red spring wheat, and that made it difficult for the breeders of new varieties to use all the tools.

Agriculture committee  It's working quite well. There's always the odd time something happens, but part of the responsibility of the Canadian Grain Commission and the grain research laboratory is to monitor that incorrect varieties are not placed into the wrong class by the grain handling system. Some of that occurred in very small amounts prior to the change.