Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to participate in the committee's consideration of Bill S-11, the Safe Food for Canadians Act. Dairy Farmers of Canada places a high priority on food safety and such related standards as traceability, animal c

Agriculture committee  We already have a very good reputation regarding the quality and safety of our dairy products in Canada. We are guaranteed a fair return on our production. Ensuring the safety of dairy products is part and parcel of our commitment to the population and to our clients who consume

Agriculture committee  In the dairy sector, we may be more used to mandatory regulations. It may be a little more natural for us. I nevertheless think that our obligations must be based on science. These requirements are based on science. These things have to be solid. We have to ensure that all of th

Agriculture committee  The lack of traceability certainly increases risks. This does not necessarily mean that food will not be as safe, but there is always a risk. In this file, risk always has to be managed so that Canadians are not exposed to health hazards.

Agriculture committee  I think the legislation is certainly the starting point, but as I mentioned in my presentation, the devil is in the details. The regulations that come afterward will have a large impact on the success of this piece of legislation. That process hasn't yet started, but it's an im

Agriculture committee  I would say that they need to be sufficiently prescriptive to ensure that we achieve our end goal, which is protecting the health and safety of Canadians. At the same time, they need to be not so onerous that they impose unnecessary cost burdens on producers or other people in th

Agriculture committee  None come to mind right off the top of my head. As I mentioned earlier, in our sector in dairy, maybe we have a little less opposition to prescriptive rules. We think they make everybody operate at a higher level, which in the end is good. Not everybody shares that point of vie

Agriculture committee  Yes.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My colleague, Mr. Leduc, will make the presentation.

International Trade committee  It is a concern. In our view this may set a precedent. Certainly other countries looking at this will be saying that if you did this for Europe you can do this for us, too. It's fair game, right?

International Trade committee  Obviously, 18,000 tonnes is not zero. So it is a further incursion of imported cheese into the Canadian market. I think that's pretty self-evident.

International Trade committee  To answer your first question, because of the massive amount of subsidies in the European Union, dairy producers there receive 40% to 50% of their revenue from the mailbox, from government program payments. So that means that they don't have to receive as much from the market. Th

International Trade committee  Currently, under the access that was negotiated during the GATT agreement, Europe obtained about 13,400 tonnes out of the 20,000 tonnes of total cheese access. Now, with CETA, that will augmented by a further 17,700 tonnes.

International Trade committee  That's correct, yes.

International Trade committee  First of all, our numbers indicate that the rate of growth is probably about half of the number that you cited. Secondly, speaking as a dairy producer, that growth is very important to us as producers. Our production per cow increases on an annual basis and we need to grow our f