In particular, a dedicated SME instrument that is targeted at all types of SMEs with an innovation potential, in a broad sense, shall be created under a single centralised management system and implemented primarily in a bottom-up manner through a continuously open call tailored to the needs of SMEs as set out under the specific objective "Innovation in SMEs" in Point 3.3 (a) of Part II of Annex I. That instrument shall take account of the specific objective "Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies" set out in Point 1 of Part II of Annex I and each of the specific objectives under the priority "Societal challenges" set out in ...[+++] Points 1 to 7 of Part III of Annex I and shall be implemented in a consistent manner.

In addition, the report shall analyse the feasibility of the introduction of an obligation for all Union issuers to carry out due diligence when sourcing minerals to ensure that supply chains have no connection to conflict parties and respect the EITI and OECD recommendations on responsible supply chain management.

I have three questions to start with on supply management four, actually following up on the questions by Monsieur Cardin and Monsieur Bellavance, because it has not been clear to us that Canada is saying no to any deal that does not fully protect supply management.

I'd like to know why the program has not been revised thus far to help dairy farmers contend with the problem of cull cows that cannot be exported to the United States (1720) [English] Mr. Danny Foster: With the launch of CAIS, the supply-managed industry basically did not want the CAIS program because they felt that the supply-managed regime was an effective business risk management tool.

That's not to say, in terms of the supply management industry, in terms of the dairy industry, and in terms of producers losing some income because their revenues from cull animal sales are reduced, that CAIS pays out less in that case than it would for a producer of a non-supply-managed commodity, but we'll have to come back to the committee and provide specific information on how CAIS worked for that industry.

* encourage active private sector participation, including with a view to: providing technical and financial assistance to ensure legality throughout the supply chain; developing and implementing codes of conduct and supply chain management systems; using of internal and external audit to verify compliance with the supplier code of conduct; assisting with the third party verification of the supply chain from source to end user; and reporting publicly in an agreed format on progress towards ensuring legality of products.