Agriculture committee  Well, first of all, there is no agreement yet. It's under negotiation. I assume they're closer than we may think. I think too many things have been taken off the table by both parties. If you look at what our bigger export interests would be, you see that our biggest export is durum wheat.

Agriculture committee  In the case of Europe, it probably would be. I don't think we'd get the access that we had historically. We have to live with the fact that the Europeans are very large producers of wheat and other grains. In terms of being able to re-enter that market, they are not going to move back to being a net importer, as they were in the 1960s.

Agriculture committee  There are several organizations, such as EUREPG.A.P, which has become GLOBALG.A.P. Basically, they present standards set out by firms like Tesco or Carrefour as the standards that they require when they source their products. There is nothing governments can do about them. They are private standards.

Agriculture committee  I agree. I think we've had a little bit of experience with some of the European Union policies with respect to pork as an additive. I'm not sure of the exact additive--ractopamine?--but I think there is potential. The people who are in the best place to determine just what's coming out in terms of the additives or the potential irritants are in the industry itself.

Agriculture committee  You're worried about another triffid.

Agriculture committee  A certain amount of caution has to take place. I think the Europeans and the Japanese tend to be rather pragmatic. The Japanese will allow imports of canola oil because the modification resides in the meal, not in the oil, and they're willing to take it. I think the Europeans are gradually coming around and seeing that you do need modifications as the world markets become tighter, and with time they will become more liberal with respect to their imports of genetically modified organisms.

Agriculture committee  Let's deal with the hormone beef issue. The first thing you can do is follow the lead of the Americans in terms of trying to get some additional access with respect to the Hilton quota. The Hilton quota will allow imports of beef that has been verified as not having been treated with hormones.

Agriculture committee  First let me express my views on local food. Local food, at its extreme, becomes a form of protectionism. To a certain extent we had local food, if you go back to my parents' or grandparents' age; everything then was local. I think we have to be awfully careful about just what we're promoting with respect to providing what the customer needs.

Agriculture committee  I'd agree about the flexibility with respect to the revenue cap. From an economist's perspective, it gives you the best of both worlds. You can have monopolists acting as they do, but they are constrained in terms of the overall amount of money that they bring in, and they are able to respond to the market.

Agriculture committee  I'm going to pass on commenting on that sort of argument. I still think the first question you always have to ask is why the private sector is not doing it in the first place, and then figure out the reasons and go forward, but in terms of research questions, I'll pass.

Agriculture committee  Since all your examples have to do with the EU, let's talk about it and talk about the current negotiations that are going on. The most basic way is to have the negotiators sit down and try to bang heads over what is feasible and what isn't. In terms of access for some of their markets and some of our markets, we are never going to have a situation in which we completely open up the markets.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. It's an honour to be asked to appear before you. I'm going to limit my comments to two main areas: the effectiveness of current trade promotion programs and the necessary condition for improved market access. I'll deal with trade promotion first. Before I even address the issue, I think I have to ask a more fundamental question: should trade promoters be asking what products and attributes are demanded in foreign markets and then providing advice as to how to meet that demand, or should they be promoting existing products?