International Trade committee  Yes. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada runs a service called the Agricultural Trade Negotiations Consultative Group, and we're in numerous conference calls with them. We belong to the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, so on a quarterly basis we meet with the trade negotiators through the CFA trade committee.

International Trade committee  From what we know, it is not to our satisfaction.

International Trade committee  And then I would say we have three interfaces with the sugar trade negotiations. First of all, we're members of the World Association of Beet and Cane Growers. That's a farmers' organization. It's mainly farmers from developing countries who grow sugar cane, but it also includes some developed countries--the Australian and the European beet industries are members.

International Trade committee  Yes, that's particularly at the WTO level. In bilateral negotiations we tend to be very vulnerable because nobody wants to listen at the other end about giving us access. We're members of the Global Sugar Alliance, and that is the position.

International Trade committee  Yes. One of the seed companies, Syngenta Seeds, made a major presentation to the world sugar industry in Brisbane last year. They have developed the ethanol sugar beet that is drought resistant, that can be grown in Sudan, Colombia, everywhere. That's our message for our negotiators.

International Trade committee  Canada currently exports no sugar to Colombia. In the 2006-07 time period, Colombia exported 43,000 tonnes to Canada, mainly because of a fluctuation in the European Union sugar crop, together with a price differential that allowed some exports at that point.

International Trade committee  The members of the Canadian Sugar Beet Producers' Association are based in Alberta. There is a sugar beet industry around Chatham, Ontario, but all of that beet is exported to Michigan Sugar, and the sugar stays in the United States as part of the U.S. sugar program.

International Trade committee  The Colombian sugar industry is probably one of the highest-yielding in the world. The valleys in Colombia where the sugar cane is grown provide excellent agronomic conditions. But in southern Alberta, our sugar production per acre is well above the world average. So we, too, are very efficient producers.

International Trade committee  Well, it's a basic principle of free trade that if one person is allowed to engage in trade, the other should as well. If you refer to the Senate agricultural and forestry committee hearing from, I believe, last December 13, when we were questioned by the senators on this matter....

International Trade committee  We want the opportunity--yes.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and members, for hearing us today on important matters concerning the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement. Since sugar beet is a relatively rare crop in Alberta and Canada, I'll briefly describe our background. We are called the Canadian Sugar Beet Producers' Association Inc., which was founded in the 1940s.