Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think you've certainly raised a very good question. Our challenge is to make sure that the position we've taken on supply management prevails. As I said, this is a pretty challenging negotiating position, since essentially, as you said, we are not prepared to accept a concession in these areas.
That being said, the negotiations also involve a very broad range of issues across the agricultural sector. The interests that play are very diverse, and not only for Canada but also for the other countries. Clearly, throughout these negotiations efforts have been made to address the particular needs of individual countries. If you look at the negotiating text currently in play, there is a recognition here and there that the United States needs a special break in some areas because they face a particular problem; Norway and Switzerland need a particular deviation because they face particular issues domestically as well.
This is the process of a negotiation. How do you make sure that while you're moving forward across the board you recognize the particular needs of individual countries? It takes time, and it's one of the reasons up to now for our not being able to arrive at an agreement: simply that not all of these needs have been fully recognized.