To a large extent, this was a good discussion with negotiators. It was really more of a symbolic issue. The bottom line is that it sets a terrible precedent for the EU in its negotiations around the world. Say, for example, they have fisheries trade agreements with Norway, Iceland, and Greenland. There is no mention of minimum processing requirements, so it was more a philosophical issue. At the end of the day, the bottom line is.... Right now, say, for example we have Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and British Columbia. They do not have minimum processing requirements and basically trade is going back and forth in terms of, for example, the same types of species that Newfoundland and Labrador has. To a certain extent, the impact of removing those trade restrictions would be pretty negligible.
It's interesting to look at British Columbia. In British Columbia not that long ago we had a minimum processing for herring roe: herring could not be exported out of British Columbia if it had roe in place. What happened? It became uneconomical to harvest and process the small herring, so the quotas were not being caught. In fact, the minimum processing requirements that were demonstrated in B.C. were costing the industry jobs, particularly in the harvesting side. What brought it to a fundamental decision-making was that of course Alaska has herring and herring roe and they did not have the restrictions that British Columbia had. Basically, they were sending the small herring—which was uneconomical to process in North America or in Alaska—to South Korea and then South Korea would be processing and the herring roe would go to Japan.
At the same time, the Alaskans were developing a food market for that small herring in Africa. When you step back, there was a case study whereby it was a restriction that was actually a negative impact in terms of the B.C. industry. When the B.C. exporters of herring roe would meet with the Japanese buyers they were at a disadvantage with the Alaskans because the Alaskans could offer the Japanese buyers not only herring roe but also food herring.