International Trade committee  Oh, no question. Not so much directly for us, but certainly for the grower groups in the GrowCanada partnership, that is an issue with which they're always wrestling.

International Trade committee  That's certainly what we're hoping for. We talk about a coalition of the willing, if you will, made up of the major exporting countries, which all have a science-based regulatory system. To your point earlier, we don't see any reason that countries that have a science-based regul

International Trade committee  Every time I turn around one of our member companies is making a trip to those kinds of emerging markets that you're discussing, absolutely.

International Trade committee  I'm certainly not aware of any of those concerns. Our members are concerned about all trade agreements. This is one. Obviously, there was a great deal of interest in CETA at the time that CETA was going on, so at any—

International Trade committee  I think our members' biggest concern, and it was pretty focused, was on making sure there was a science-based regulatory part of this. I think the fall of the tariffs was one part. I think our focus was pretty singular, and we felt it was met, notwithstanding when we may or may n

International Trade committee  They were all extremely involved. You're talking about groups like the Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, CAFTA, the Canola Council of Canada, the Canadian Canola Growers Association, the Grain Growers of Canada, the Canadian Horticultural Council, Canada Grains Council, and no d

International Trade committee  I will be very quick, Mr. Chair. Our large members are global. They will tell you that the most competitive aspect of their business is the internal debates about where investment will go, whether it is to Canada, to the U.S., to Europe, or to Southeast Asia. That is incredibly

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I appreciate the committee having me here today. I know I'm a bit of an outlier from your theme in that I'm with agriculture with, I guess, a bit of a connector back with biotechnology, but I appreciate your generosity in having me here today. CropLife Can

Agriculture committee  I read that as well, and I gather some of those changes would be about farmer-saved seed. I really believe that our friends at the Canadian Seed Trade Association could best address them. I guess, Mr. Eyking, we're looking at this from more of a 40,000-foot level. What encourag

Agriculture committee  Absolutely.

Agriculture committee  Just to elaborate on that very quickly, globally there's competition. I alluded to that a little. In fact, our member companies will tell you that there's competition within their companies: what country is going to receive that investment? Is it going to be Canada? Is it going t

Agriculture committee  I'll let Stephen answer that.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for inviting us here today. With me is my colleague Dr. Stephen Yarrow, our vice-president of biotechnology. It's our pleasure to offer some remarks to you today on Bill C-18, the agricultural growth act, on behalf of our members

Agriculture committee  One of the things that we've done is to encourage the Canada Food Inspection Agency to continue to explain what it is they do and to stand up for Canada's regulatory system. We think Canada's regulatory system is excellent. We think our food safety record is outstanding. We've se

Agriculture committee  You are seeing research that is going on now—and my colleague Dr. Yarrow could speak in more detail to it—on things like drought tolerance and saline tolerance for crops. These are exciting possibilities in order to deal with climate change, and I guess further to the earlier que