Agriculture committee  What I said about GMOs is that once third countries submit applications for certain GMO events to get access to the EU, those applications first have to be evaluated—assessed—by the European Food Safety Authority, EFSA. Only once EFSA defines that the application is in accordance

Agriculture committee  Exactly, and it goes well. Also, let me say that for GMOs there is a biotech dialogue already, one that has been ongoing for many years, between experts on your side and experts on our side, which will continue under CETA. It's in accordance with I think chapter 25 of CETA. It's

Agriculture committee  No, not really. I think CETA could be so ambitious in our area because there is such huge trust and there were also such good experiences from the past. We were able to conclude this ambitious SPS chapter because of the experiences and the history we have. Of course, it's obviou

Agriculture committee  As I said, we already have a long-standing relationship, and I think a very good one, and we share a lot of information. I don't know all the information available on the Canadian side and whether they share everything with us, but our feeling is that Canada is a very trusted and

Agriculture committee  Yes, in order to export to Canada, we have to meet the Canadian requirements, obviously. In those cases, particularly in the microbiological area, for instance, microbiological contamination is an area of huge concern to Canada and also to the EU, but definitely to Canada. For in

Agriculture committee  This is a perception, which is always dependent on various.... I mean, we may have totally different views than people on the Canadian side do, obviously, and I think that's true for many areas. Therefore, it's extremely good and helpful that we meet often to inform each other ab

Agriculture committee  Our member states have national authorities in place that control and oversee their food safety systems. They have to ensure that their controls are in compliance with agreements, with legislation, that we have made at the EU level. With respect to imports of more sensitive pro

Agriculture committee  Yes. It's very good.

Agriculture committee  No, it's only 8:30 in the evening, so it's no problem at all.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. It's a pleasure to be here, honourable members of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-food. Thank you for allowing us to present the EU food safety system to you. It's an honour for us. My name is Jan Bloemendal. I'm indeed in the

Agriculture committee  Indeed, the European Union and Canada are privileged partners. We have a long history in information exchange but also in trade. The EU as such, with a market of 500 million consumers, is a significant market for Canada. The EU is the world's largest importer of agriculture and