Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome, gentlemen.
For some time now, we have been hearing some members repeatedly state that it is only a question of time before the United States reach or ratify an agreement with Colombia and that it will happen sooner rather than later.
I guess it depends on who you talk to. Some have said that the agreement is ready and that it only remains to be ratified. That is not necessarily true, especially since one of you said that it could be done by 2012, because there remain human rights issues. So we think it could be 2012 but it might even be later. We are saying here that we have to move faster than the others. But I think in this case we can take it relatively easy. If Canada decides to ratify, I believe it can be done before the United States.
Earlier, Mr. Stanford or Mr. Phillips talked about the relatively positive results of the negotiations and bilateral agreements. You also mentioned that a multilateral agreement would probably be ideal since it is difficult for smaller countries to reach a beneficial agreement in a bilateral framework and that the rules under a multilateral agreement are generally more fair. However, Mr. Rice did not raise this issue. So I would like to know if he too would be in favour of a multilateral agreement in an ideal world.
Also, since the United States did not want to ratify the agreement because of human rights issues, do you believe that it would be easier to have a multilateral agreement and to incorporate aspects such as these, respect for human rights, labour standards and the environment? I would like to have your general views on this.