October 11, 2002

Edmonton, Alberta – October 10, 2002 – The Canadian Charolais Association has just signed an agreement with Viewtrak Technologies Inc. to incorporate Viewtrak’s system of individual animal tracking and data management services.

The Canadian Charolais Association, through Viewtrak, will provide its 1400 members with a powerful livestock management tool with the ability to record individual animal data as well as track the performance of commercial cattle influenced by Charolais genetics. The Viewtrak platform will assist the Canadian Charolais Association and its members to be on the leading edge in meeting consumer demands for superior quality beef, which can be traced through the entire production chain.

 One of the Association’s missions is to continue the role of leadership in the beef industry with the support of breed enhancement programs and to encourage breed development through the collection of records and subsequent evaluation of data. They wish to provide breeders and their customers with the tools needed to evaluate genetic differences and assist in the selection of animals.

“Viewtrak provides me the convenience of being able to manage both my commercial and purebred herds with a single program. This program allows me to incorporate data not normally available to a cow/calf producer when making management decisions.” states Allan Marshall, Charolais Association president. “It is my opinion that individual animal evaluations will provide the greatest improvements in efficiencies for both commercial and purebred producers.”  For more information on the Canadian Charolais Association and their cattle, visit their website at www.charolais.com.

“The Viewtrak platform is targeted to value added beef production in response to consumer demand for high quality, consistency, and safe beef products.  Today’s consumer is also interested in animal welfare issues and environmentally sustainable production. There is a growing requirement in all markets for source verification and traceability to confirm food safety and quality.” says Dr. Jake Burlet, President & CEO of Viewtrak.  “Delivering on the promise of source verification must begin at the farm of origin and requires a whole product solution that encompasses unique lifetime identification, user friendly data collection tools and the Viewtrak application for integrated information management.  The Charolais Association recognizes the importance of using genetic and management information to assist in producing high quality, consistent products that consumers want.”

Edmonton based, Viewtrak Technologies Inc. is dedicated to the development of superior, value-added agribusiness information technologies. They have developed a fully integrated foodsource management program from producer to consumer that is delivered via an electronic platform provided by B2B Vertical Markets. For more information on Viewtrak Technologies Inc. visit the website at www.Viewtrak.com.

B2B Vertical Markets is a joint venture between Royal Bank Financial Group (TSE, NYSE: RY) and Mediagrif Interactive Technologies (TSE: MDF), a world-leading developer and operator of business-to-business e-commerce marketplaces and provider of complete private e-commerce and e-content management solutions. The venture profits from Royal Bank’s vast network of business customers in Canada and its expertise in electronic banking services, and from Mediagrif’s technological and operational expertise in vertical marketplaces.

For more information, contact:

Viewtrak Technologies Inc.
J.F. (Jake) Burlet, D.V.M., M.B.A                       
President & CEO                        
780-456-2207                        
Jburlet@Viewtrak.com                       

Canadian Charolais Association
Neil Gilles, General Manager
ngillies@charolais.com
Mark Lowerison, Breed Improvement Coordinator
mlowerison@charolais.com
403-250-9242

Mediagrif Interactive Technologies Inc.
Marc Duhamel
Vice-President Communications
Ph: 450-677-8797
Cell: 514-386-9852
mduhamel@mediagrif.com