The process of how we got from where we were during the negotiations is basically the story of the negotiating process. The last time I was here the details were still subject to negotiating confidentiality, but at that time, what Colombia was offering was certainly much less favourable for Canadian beef than for U.S. beef.
We actually went down and visited with the Colombian cattle producers association. We established a relationship, a dialogue back and forth. We told them what was important to us, and we really sensed that getting an agreement with Canada was a high priority for Colombia. So I think they got the message that beef was a deal breaker and that certainly helped out.
Of course, we had very close contact with the negotiators, at the Department of Agriculture, at the Department of Finance, and at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and they were certainly very eager to understand what it was.
The point about explaining why Canada has different quality grades--the double A, the triple A--and why they were comparable to USDA prime and choice was a very technical and very difficult one to get through. They initially said, for the U.S. it's only two grades, so how come it's four for Canada, and we had to explain our system. I guess I'm only pleased we were successful, and now that we've gone through that effort, we certainly hope that's the bar to meet in future negotiations.
In terms of getting the edge over the U.S., as I compare what Canada and the U.S. got in their agreements, with the U.S. agreement their phase-outs are 10 years. The Colombian tariff is 80%, so their tariff at 80% will go down over 10 years for the Americans.
For Canada, the 80% will go down over 12 years. But if we can get our agreement implemented sooner than the Americans, that's not as much of a concern. There's also a provision in our agreement that if the U.S. implements within two years of Canada, then we get to catch up with the Americans. There's an acceleration clause in there, and that was something that was important to us.
It was a perceptual thing for the Colombians, because they knew it was going to be a slow process in the U.S. Congress, and they didn't want the Americans to get too far behind. So those dynamics certainly came into the thing.
Comparing with some of the other agreements, I think we've not made a secret in the past that we don't blindly support just any agreement. I guess we've had some discussion before about the EFTA agreement, that there really was nothing for beef in there. But I think we've made those comments, they have been heard, and I guess we see with Colombia that the outcome was very much more favourable than previously.