International Trade committee  Thanks, Jim, and thank you, Mr. Chair, for allowing Jim to give more of a national review. What we'll now do is narrow this down to the effects on the plants in Montreal and Saint-Cyrville. We'll focus on country-of-origin labelling first. It's probably costing us about 10¢ a

International Trade committee  Oh, it's specified risk material, sorry. It's all because of the outbreak of mad cow disease. Canada took the full list. Should I spend a minute on it, Mr. Chair?

International Trade committee  When the outbreak of mad cow disease occurred in Alberta, there was a list of nervous tissue that had to be removed to protect the consumer, which we did put into effect as of August 23, 2003. We implemented that right across the country. That included the dorsal root ganglia, th

International Trade committee  Right. Thanks, Jim. And so came BSE. We had to then protect our herd against it. In order to qualify for our controlled risk status so we could maintain the current markets we have, and all the work the people in this room did to get our markets--the ones we have--it was part o

International Trade committee  I know you were. But I think the rule came under duress. The cost to implement and manage it is serious.

International Trade committee  I think the timing is important. I think it has such a political profile down there. They've been told to voluntarily cooperate with the rule or enforcement will be increased and they won't like the increase. Also, because it's so fresh, everybody is voluntarily cooperating in th

International Trade committee  Jim, did you want to add to it?

International Trade committee  I think there is that fear. You have to understand that the country-of-origin labelling was promoted by maybe one or two lobbying groups. I don't believe the regulatory people in the United States showed much interest in this. Politically, it was brought upon them. Down the road,

International Trade committee  We all know how it works down there. It's a big centrifuge, and when it comes time to pull a political string, they pull it. And this one just didn't go away. Again, it was too strong. I know of one strong lobbying group that made it a real political issue, and that same group di

International Trade committee  One was R-CALF. I don't want to give them notoriety for success, and that's why I was hesitant to say it.

International Trade committee  You've got the NCBA down there, and the R-CALF organization is a spin-off to it. The NCBA does nothing right. They don't protect the cattle industry.... You know, we have low groundswells here once in a while.

International Trade committee  Yes, it's that organization, and they'll know it as R-CALF, Honourable Brison. They'll know it very well. And they didn't run out of money.

International Trade committee  No, it's “R”.

International Trade committee  It would be my pleasure.

International Trade committee  No, it's not. It's just to make us equivalent with the United States.