International Trade committee  I can speak to my trade commissioner experience in Paris. It felt as though I wasn't a valuable enough player for the European market. It's too bad because I should have been treated differently. I wish I had been given the opportunity to develop that market. As for how to improve that experience, I would recommend more knowledge and a better attitude towards products like ours, which do have a place in a market of 700 million people.

International Trade committee  For any business or SME, inventory is always a problem, certainly, because it's idle money, especially when you're talking about such a large amount. When you get an order for one or more containers, it's definitely a big burden.

International Trade committee  Exactly. And since we're dealing in food, it's always a risk for us. It's even risky for a business that doesn't have a solid grasp—

International Trade committee  We've been learning about technology transfer for seven years now. We've built up a lot of tangible and meaningful knowledge. What we're missing is the financing. As a SME, we put our financial focus on the local market, above all. We need support. We are completing a very big project in the Middle East.

International Trade committee  I have heard about transportation support. When they ship to a foreign country by air, the government covers the transportation costs.

International Trade committee  We have transportation challenges and tax-related challenges. Even though Canada is obviously a salmon-producing country, some of our competitors are much better-positioned than we are. As I was saying earlier, governments such as Norway's and Chile's subsidize their producers and, therefore, their processors.

International Trade committee  Technically, in order to export products to Canada, producers have to comply with international HACCP and GFSI standards. But it's fairly easy for products to come in. Indeed, it's more difficult to sell and export our products than it is to import foreign products into Canada.

International Trade committee  Precisely.

International Trade committee  That's true.

International Trade committee  It's huge. It's quite straightforward, actually. We can only afford to ship our products by boat, in containers. That's the only way to ship salmon at an affordable cost. Selling a 20-foot or 40-foot container's worth of product is very tough. When you're trying to penetrate a market, people usually only want to buy small quantities.

International Trade committee  We're not always well-received. I've gone to Paris a number of times, for instance. And most of the time, I was discouraged. In fact, once, it ended up being a waste of time, even though a huge consumer market for specialty foods was taking place there. I had the opportunity to go on a mission to Japan, organized by Quebec's general delegation.

International Trade committee  Good afternoon everyone. Fumoir La Fée des Grèves is a seafood processing plant located in the Quebec City area. The smokehouse was established in 1994 by my brother and I, Marin and Nicolas Letenneur. We are French immigrants trained in the preparation of high-quality food.