I apologize, if you've covered some of this already, but I think you're aware that there are countries in South America with which they have relationships. In some cases they are called associate members of Mercosur, and in some cases they have an FTA with Mercosur. But these tend to be goods-based agreements and much more limited in coverage than the one, for example, which the European Union has been negotiating for some time with Mercosur, and certainly much more limited than the kind of agreement we would be looking for.
On the previous question about SMEs, we're very aware of value chains and investment and exports of goods and services—that is, very much the full range of what we have to offer and what these countries have to offer. We would be looking for a comprehensive agreement, and to date we have not seen that kind of comprehensive agreement.
In fact, in some of our discussions the Mercosur countries have pointed out that they aren't in a position to discuss this with us yet, because they're in the midst of discussions and negotiations among the four of them on government procurement, for example. I think we're not at the stage yet at which we can come to conclusions on this, but we certainly see an interest in a full range of topics. And in the two exploratory discussions that we've had, we're certainly putting that range forward and not being pushed back. It's when we get into the details that we'll have a better sense of this.
You asked as well about some of the other possibilities and what some of the other trading and economic tools are. I'm not sure what Neil has already covered, but these would be some of the things that a trade commissioner, for example, would use—and here I use the term “trade commissioner” in the largest sense of the word to mean those who are working in business development, science and technology, etc. We have talked about some of the deliverables that were announced by the Prime Minister during his trip.
Some of these other tools are key to enhancing the relationships that will be the foundation of a greater relationship with the countries. Again, the trade policy tool we are specifically discussing is a very specific one, but some of these others, such as science and technology agreements—and perhaps Neil can help me out here with others—would be the other agreements we would be talking about for enhancing a trade and economic relationship.