Agriculture committee  Well, it would mean that our system would then become based on personal interest, instead of fact. It would increase the potential for it to be manipulated in a negative sense. Most importantly, the ability to have predictability from a competitive perspective would go out the window.

Agriculture committee  Certainly. When we think about the role of the agency from a trade perspective, it's not trade promotion. Instead, it is to provide assurance to those countries importing Canadian products that they can have confidence that those products will meet their requirements. The agency prides itself on its science, and we're not shy about explaining to any country the basis on which we are confident in terms of the productions we provide.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. In 2010-11 there were ten audits. None of those were in the United States. We undertook two audits in the European Union. We were in Russia, Peru, Oman.... I'm going to miss some, because I don't have a listing in front of me, but we can provide the list of all ten. These are major markets.

Agriculture committee  That's correct. We did a meat audit in China.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. Let me provide some clarification. When I appeared at the committee last, I didn't use the word “inspected”. We talked about the “system”, because it is indeed, of course, a complete system. The Canada Border Services Agency is an important part of that system.

Agriculture committee  No. The approach the agency is taking is that as we look at how we do our business, the investment that has been made in inspection modernization.... The aim is to modernize how we do inspection, to take account of best practices elsewhere, and to innovate ourselves in terms of shifting from prescriptive towards more outcome-based, system-based approaches.

Agriculture committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has three elements to its mandate. Certainly, food safety is the number one priority, but we have equally important responsibilities in terms of protecting Canada's animal-based resources—an animal health responsibility, if you will—and Canada's plant-based resources, a plant health responsibility.

Agriculture committee  That's correct. For any imported product, there is the opportunity to sample and test that product. In the case of residues, they are compared to the maximum residue limits that Canada has established. So even where a pesticide is not used in Canada, our colleagues at Health Canada may have established a maximum residue limit to use to determine the acceptability of that product.

Agriculture committee  Thank you. The first component, as it relates to issues of pesticide use and any residue of pesticides, is through the sampling and testing programs we operate as an agency. We operate a national chemical residue monitoring program that collects samples, and we monitor for a vast range of chemical residues.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much for the question. There are two aspects to the question. The first is in terms of innovative products that reach the marketplace. We work very closely with Health Canada around new products coming into the marketplace, and depending on the particular product type, there may even be pre-market reviews of products, which enhance consumer confidence in those products before they reach the marketplace.

Agriculture committee  Thank you very much. It is a perception that we often hear as well. Let me first assure the committee that there is only one set of rules. Those rules apply to imports the same way they apply to products moving domestically. Indeed, in the context of products that are exported, if there are any additional considerations, those are not CFIA requirements.

Agriculture committee  Thank you for the question. We're often asked, as a regulator, what possible role we play in terms of market access, but the foundation of effective market access is confidence on the part of the importing country in the exporting country's ability to deliver for them safe, efficacious product.

Agriculture committee  Again, I can't tell you what the ultimate outcome will be until the review process of potentially sunsetting programs and any decisions regarding renewal have taken place. Those programs relate to issues that this committee has discussed, such as daily inspection in meat processing.

Agriculture committee  All of the Weatherill recommendations have now not only been responded to, but the actions associated with the government's response have gone forward. The government issued its final report on the status, indicating that it had completed all of the recommendations presented by Ms.

Agriculture committee  I believe you're referring to the recognition that there are certain programs within CFIA that are currently sunsetting. That's counterbalanced by the investment of $100 million in the last budget in food safety, in CFIA. That $100 million has translated into renewal in terms of programming, modernizing how as an agency we approach inspection, with, of course, our continued aim in terms of the focus on food safety as the central priority of the agency.