Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. Perhaps there's a little confusion. The CFIA does not do the risk assessment related to new chemicals used, for example, in cleaning products in establishments. Our colleagues in Health Canada do those assessments. Within CFIA we did undertake a program that did, if you will, the recognition—

Agriculture committee  Certainly.

Agriculture committee  Certainly. Thank you, Minister. The Safe Food for Canadians Act is an incredibly important advancement from a food safety perspective in Canada. What that has done is provide the agency with modern authorities to address issues in terms of the safety of food. For example, as the minister was noting, it is providing specific authority in the area of food traceability, allowing us to strengthen our ability to identify and track foods through the system and respond quickly when issues arise.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. In terms of the facts, I think Canadians will easily understand that any organization has to organize the work of its staff in order to maximize its efficiency. As it relates to a slaughter plant exporting to multiple countries, our inspection staff who certify products to those countries have to therefore make sure that the specific requirements of each country are met for the products that are destined for there.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. Issues of the safety standard and defining the safety standard fall to our colleagues at Health Canada, who establish the food safety standards in Canada. As it relates to the tenderizing of meat, Health Canada has written to the meat industry indicating that it is looking at this issue and that it will undertake work in terms of assessing risk in this regard.

Agriculture committee  That work will continue.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. Should we do better? Absolutely, and I think Bill S-11, the Safe Food for Canadians Act, represents an opportunity for continuous improvement in the system. Does that mean that the system failed? No, I don't believe the system failed. With respect to XL Foods, the fact that this contaminated product was identified prior to any report of an illness is a demonstration of what we want in the system.

Agriculture committee  The Safe Food for Canadians Act is an important advancement. CFIA was certainly delighted with the opportunity to modernize the statutes with the support of this committee. What the Safe Food for Canadians Act does is provide to the CFIA important authorities. They allow us to strengthen and modernize our food safety approaches and to take advantage of some best practices that other countries have begun to employ.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. I'll address the questions regarding the various genetically modified products. As the committee knows, no genetically modified products can be placed on the market until a series of food safety assessments are conducted on the part of Health Canada, an assessment of the implications for the environment is done by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and an assessment related to the safety of the products for animal feed is also conducted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Agriculture committee  Absolutely. Fecal matter and ingesta on product are unacceptable and render the product adulterated; it cannot be placed on the market.

Agriculture committee  Well, you have to understand that the process of meat production starts with a live animal and concludes with the meat that is available to Canadians for their plates. Along that process, there are a series of inspections and tasks that are appropriate for that point in time for that carcass and for the condition one would expect of that carcass.

Agriculture committee  It would be unreasonable to expect that. That's why we have a very systematic process of oversight and inspection to provide this assurance. What's happening here is that someone has taken one point in that entire process and attempted to attribute the entire safety system to that single point of inspection.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. It is actually quite simple. The position confirms for Japan a requirement that for Japan is unique in the world, which is that Japan accepts at present, in the Canadian context beef from animals less than 21 months old. That means for CFIA that in any plant eligible to export to Japan, we have to add a specific station that provides that assurance in order to certify products to Japan.

Agriculture committee  No, please. Let me—

Agriculture committee  Thank you. I can provide that assurance. In fact, the regulations are explicit in this regard.