Canada-China Relations committee  The specific shipment that was being referenced, Mr. Chair, was done in accordance with the lab's standard operating procedures in compliance with the HPTA and the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, as well as with the Canadian fire safety standards.

Canada-China Relations committee  Thank you, Mr. Stewart. When experiments are proposed that have the potential for gain-of-function applications, they are automatically referred to the institutional biosafety committee to ensure that no such experiments move forward and that any risks associated with them are m

Canada-China Relations committee  The transfer of materials is governed by the Human Pathogens and Toxins Act, the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act, and the Canadian biosafety standards. They apply to the export of materials from Canada.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, I apologize. I'm not able to answer that particular question.

Canada-China Relations committee  [Technical difficulty—Editor] must be approved by senior management at the National Microbiology Laboratory.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, every transfer of material is assessed on a case-by-case basis. We have never transferred coronaviruses to the Wuhan Institute of Virology; therefore, we have not assessed the question as structured.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, prior to the transfer, one of the essential aspects of the transfer process is receiving a letter from the receiving institute with respect to their intent.

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, to complete the answer, when we received the letter from the director of the Wuhan Institute of Virology with respect to the intended use of the viruses, it stated they were to be used for understanding the pathophysiology—the nature of infection—as well as the develop

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, should I answer?

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, there is an extensive approach that is undertaken prior to the transfer of materials, and the Wuhan Institute of Virology is an organization dedicated to public health.

Canada-China Relations committee  The global community has collaborated extensively in the response to COVID-19, including through the convening power of the World Health Organization. The sharing of sequence data from China on the weekend of January 10 was what made the NML able to develop our first generation t

Canada-China Relations committee  My apologies, Mr. Chair, but I am....

Canada-China Relations committee  With respect to how visiting officials are handled when working at the National Microbiology Laboratory, following the development of the working officials policy, which is in the final status of its current review, a working official agreement is required prior to working at the

Canada-China Relations committee  There is an existing security policy. The National Microbiology Laboratory requires a secret clearance and a number of other supportive documents prior to commencing work at the NML, but we are an organization of continual improvement and the latest iteration of the working offic

Canada-China Relations committee  Mr. Chair, it's not necessarily a significant change. It is just an ongoing review of these policies and of the development of streamlined processes.