Right. Thank you for that reminder.
About a year and a half ago--and I think that's when the beef export federation was here--we discussed with them what our strategy with Korea should be. At that time we were extremely frustrated that Korea would not even speak to the Canadian veterinary negotiators about opening. I'm pleased that since that time, especially since we received the controlled risk status at the world animal health organization, Korea has been a little more open in talking to us.
Where we sit right now is that Korea has an eight-step process that they've given us for opening the market, and we are currently at step six. Step six is negotiating what the products will be, what the access will be. Step seven is that they make it public, and step eight is that they come over here and look at our plants. So we're very close to the end.
I would like to stress that our request is not that negotiations be suspended. In fact, we would like the negotiations to be intensified to get to the finish line, and if that happens, then we will be one of the strongest supporters of this free trade agreement.