Agriculture committee  That is correct.

Agriculture committee  I'll use my time effectively. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. On June 14 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a public statement regarding the discovery of a few genetically modified, herbicide-tolerant wheat plants found growing along an access road in southern Alb

Agriculture committee  For example, maximum residue levels are established at the Codex Alimentarius for most, not all, food in the world. We follow them or we have our own maximum residue levels. Because of the science, we've done a risk assessment. They could differ but they would be similar. If we

Agriculture committee  Correct. If we have a Canadian product that is not meeting the maximum residue level, it would not be allowed into commerce because it has to respect the laws and regulations in Canada as well. We're not allowed to treat imports and domestic products differently. That's part of o

Agriculture committee  Yes, I think you've made a good point. Through January to April last year, there were broad consultations across Canada with all stakeholders to make sure of what is needed. A number of these points came out. Again, we know that service after hours has to be part of it. It's very

Agriculture committee  I'm going to call on my colleague, Mr. Seppey, because he's more conversant on this issue than I am.

Agriculture committee  I do, and the industry has made that point. Relatively, to what we have to say, is it discriminatory? Are they going ahead with country-of-origin labelling? We're waiting for the European Commission to finalize their labelling law, and then, based on that, we will make recommenda

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Harvey. It is a good question. I think the key thing is that the CFIA is committed to continually improving to better serve the industry. That's a given. The service fees or the user fees, as they've been called as well, have not been updated for many years. It is

Agriculture committee  That is a good question. In fact, the United States has said that they could perhaps consider it as a non-tariff barrier. However, according to the legislation, Canada has the right to use whatever labelling it wishes. But it has to respect the international norms and the stand

Agriculture committee  The final thing has not been finalized. It will go for the final consultation, Canada Gazette, part two, and then there will be final comments both from Canadians and from our foreign trading partners. Based on those, Health Canada and the agency will make the final decisions, re

Agriculture committee  I'll start and then my colleague...because it's actually—

Agriculture committee  The whole group is responsible for that. It is a challenge at the moment. The idea would be that for the next steps, obviously, we'll be looking at the final regulation that the European Commission will put out. The European Commission supersedes the member states. Is Italy resp

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  I'm glad you left the easy question for me. Obviously I won't speak on behalf of the Government of Canada relative to environmental activity. As for how they produce it, whether they're clearing their forests or not, what I do know, and again, I'm going to be somewhat.... We do

Agriculture committee  My colleague from Global Affairs, Jay Allen, would like to give you a few comments as well.