Finance committee  A little slower. We were doing well. The U.S. times have sped up, and they're now committed to moving faster. The other area to consider, Mr. Chair, is the emerging areas of CRISPR and Cas9. How are those going to be regulated in the United States, and how are they going to be

Finance committee  Certainly. There's a very easy answer to the first one: yes. We're strong supporters of TPP 11. Canada tends to do very well in multilateral trade agreements, particularly when it comes to science-based regulatory standards. As for non-tariff trade barriers, China is an excelle

Finance committee  IP protection would be a somewhat separate area. This is more the regulatory system. This is more the predictability of putting a new trait forward in China and having it approved. I reference China simply because of the immense potential that's there and the fact that I believe

Finance committee  Absolutely. At present, it takes two years to get a seed, a new trait, to approval. It's a two-year process. Why does it take two years? Well, we know that there isn't two years' worth of work going into that process. It's a few months. So that's a very lengthy process, and in

Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I really appreciate it. CropLife Canada is the national trade association representing the manufacturers, developers, and distributors of plant science innovations including pest control products and plant biotechnology for use in agriculture, urban, and pu

Agriculture committee  You're talking about the availability of seed to farmers. I'll say a couple of things very quickly. First, I think if you asked all of the different grower groups and all of the different agricultural groups, I think they'd say the selection of seeds that they have available for

Agriculture committee  I would simply encourage you and other committee members to hear directly from grower groups on this issue. The grower groups are here. They're represented in Ottawa. They're represented more broadly. There is a seed trade association and a seed growers association. I'm very conf

Agriculture committee  You talked a little bit about the length of time. It goes through the lab, it goes through field trials, and then it finally goes in for submission. That's a very lengthy piece. We often hear, “You can't trust corporations; you can't trust their science.” The question I would as

Agriculture committee  We see universities as a tremendous hub for agriculture innovation. Certainly your riding features one of the most dynamic agricultural research hubs in the country. The University of Saskatchewan features another one, and Laval is another. When it comes to innovation, we believe

Agriculture committee  You touched on something very important. What Health Canada does is regulate for outcomes, and they don't regulate the process. Given how complex the process is becoming, and will continue to become, we think the CFIA is on the right track to protect the health and safety of Cana

Agriculture committee  I think our role is to try to encourage governments to have the regulatory environment needed so that innovation can thrive. We believe that when innovation thrives, Canadian farmers win and Canadian farmers can produce more. We've certainly seen that track over the last 20 years

Agriculture committee  I think it's important to understand the differences between health and safety and marketing. I believe Mr. Mayers from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was here recently, and he talked about what the process is for CFIA in regulating foods, which is safeguarding the health an

Agriculture committee  I'll say a couple of things very quickly, Mr. Shipley. Number one, our members would spend about $150 million and take about seven years to bring a product to market. That's from lab to seed. It would be about that length of a process and that much money. I would also defer to

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm Dennis Prouse, vice-president, government affairs, with CropLife Canada. I very much appreciate the opportunity to present to you today and the invitation you have given us. CropLife Canada represents the manufacturers, developers, and distributers of

International Trade committee  There was no change in the TPP for IP on seeds, nor were our members looking for any.