International Trade committee  I think a key part is working with the rest of the group to stress the urgency of this matter. As we said earlier, there is a huge sense of urgency here. This is something that is affecting not just producers but the entire industry and the entire economy. For us, it's key that we as industry participants in this working group provide our perspective on the importance of the matter at hand and how it is affecting the entire canola trade.

International Trade committee  There've been no issues from any other markets.

International Trade committee  The federal government has reached out to Viterra directly at many different levels, right from the onset, when the announcement was made on March 26 that our export ability was restricted. Various areas of government, from agriculture to trade to foreign affairs, both at the ministerial level and throughout, have reached out to us.

International Trade committee  I'm not aware of any timeline.

International Trade committee  For me the key piece is that the buyer and the seller have clearly defined rules that both need to honour. We trade with very strict trade rules, and should there be a dispute, there are mechanisms to resolve that dispute. The challenge we have with issues such as the one in China is with government interfering and creating non-tariff trade barriers.

International Trade committee  China's market is between 3.5 million and 5 million metric tons of just canola seed. To replace that would take years. The challenge is that you have to get market acceptance of canola, and you have to build up all of the infrastructure. The canola seed needs to go into market. It needs to be crushed, where you're converting that seed to both oil and meal, so you need acceptance of both the oil and the meal within that marketplace, and you need the infrastructure.

International Trade committee  To comment whether they're related, I can't comment on that, but on the issue of India in particular with our largest pulse market, it's been a very long process in terms of having that market essentially shut down. There's very limited Canadian product—

International Trade committee  Great. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thanks for the opportunity to address the group today. By way of background, Viterra is one of Canada's largest grain industry leaders. Our company has been in operation for over 100 years with operations right across the country that include grain elevators; oilseed processing facilities, including for canola; pulse processing facilities; and port facilities on both coasts.

Agriculture committee  I think there's a lot of confusion among the western Canadian farmers in terms of what this means. It's so recent, really—in the past month. In trying to understand the full impact, there is confusion about the length of time that this could take. I think there are a lot who are, maybe, assuming the worst-case scenario and asking what happens if this extends for long periods of time.

Agriculture committee  Yes. I would just add that when we talk about market diversification, I think it's important to note on canola it requires a significant amount of capital investment in those destination markets. What canola is being used for in those markets is it's going into crush facilities, significant facilities that are converting the seed into two predominant products, which are oil and meal.

Agriculture committee  The importance of the science-based approach is that there are clear rules that we are buying against and selling against and measuring against. The issue is that if you don't have sound, backed science, you're potentially dealing with perception and judgment. For us there is much more certainty, predictability and reliability.

Agriculture committee  I would just echo what Curt mentioned. We have never had a phytosanitary issue related to canola that I am aware of.

Agriculture committee  It is a very, very unusual circumstance in terms of what is being suggested by the Chinese.

Agriculture committee  I think one thing to add is that what is being suggested by the Chinese is in reference to what is inherently in the canola. There's been no reference to the loading process itself.

Agriculture committee  I've had the luxury of looking at systems all around the world. We have a world-class handling system in Canada that we should all be very proud of.