Agriculture committee  The agency will be looking at the scientific aspect of these submissions to determine whether they are acceptable or not. This is our mandate.

Agriculture committee  That's an excellent question, Mr. Chairman. It lets me talk about the role of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with regard to import control. The standards in effect for products offered to Canadian consumers, whether they come from Canada or from foreign countries, are the s

Agriculture committee  Certainly, it's the report on residues that the Agency has prepared. I'll be pleased to send it to you.

Agriculture committee  With pleasure, Mr. Chairman. I'll ask Krista Mountjoy.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The issue of biotechnology is currently an issue in which the agency has a great investment. We look at these files of biotechnology with a scientific eye. The agency has the responsibility to evaluate new products that come to the market from the standp

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman, there are other priorities the current government is trying to address, and the agency will certainly be responsive to the demands the government will be putting on the agency. As far as we're concerned as an agency, as I mentioned, we realize that the fact that we

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll ask Madame Krista Mountjoy to answer.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman, the agency has a lot of expertise in a great variety of areas. We have veterinarians, chemists, biologists, and lawyers. Unfortunately we don't have too many philosophers, because some of these questions are philosophical questions. With regards to that type of qu

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. Mr. Chairman, I briefly answered the question of the meat code earlier. There's a whole segment of history that I did not mention. In fact you will agree that I'm not the youngest guy on this panel, so I've been around for some time. I can tell you th

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. Mr. Chairman, the federal standards for meat inspection apply to premises that are engaged in interprovincial and international trade. These standards are a combination of Canadian standards and input that countries that accept Canadian meat have give

Agriculture committee  I know that the Agency takes its labelling mandate very seriously. It's spending a lot of time and energy on this matter. It also has a mandate to protect against fraud, and its actions are clearly guided by policies on this matter. On the subject of cheese, Ms. Mountjoy could p

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman, some committee members will recall that the Agency spent a lot of time and energy on Bill C-27. Unfortunately, as a result of deadlines related not to the Agency's priorities, but to those of Parliament, the bill could not be passed. As a result of that, many cases

Agriculture committee  Yes, it is.

Agriculture committee  Mr. Chairman, if I may, I'll answer the two questions about approval of products and bluetongue/anaplasmosis and then I'll ask Dr. Brian Evans to update your question on BSE. With regard to approval of animal health products, the agency itself is reviewing some of these products

Agriculture committee  No, Mr. Chairman, we don't. We're ready for questions.