I'm an agro-economist, and I am convinced of the value of supply management. I have worked at the Union des producteurs agricoles for several years, and I consider it a great system. Some economists claim that consumers pay more, but we have seen that, in countries where such systems have fallen, consumers never benefited from the price reduction for agricultural producers. The supply management system is not that expensive. That's not a large proportion of the cost of the product, but we have quality milk, poultry and eggs. And they are produced by family businesses. The fact that we have family farms is a societal choice. I believe in this choice.
You're asking me what to do, and I'm telling you that we must stop granting market openings. This happens with each negotiation, and some are ongoing, such as those of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN. There are other negotiations where this happens because Canada is an exporting country. We understand that, but everyone has sensitive products. The United States and Japan have them, but they never put them on the table for negotiation. We have asked that this be stopped on several occasions. You're asking me what to do, and I'm telling you that we need to stop putting these sensitive products on the table. They must no longer be the subject of negotiations. They must be considered non-negotiable.
You are talking about the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, or CPTPP. If the United States ever participates again, it will have access to it, given that it is a proximity agreement, as well as to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. They will therefore have broad access to the Canadian market. I'm simply telling you that we must stop putting this on the table. It must be non-negotiable from the get-go.