Industry committee  I do not have a document to give you, but I would be happy to discuss what we have learned in the context of our environmental assessment. As I said, we expect to make significant gains in the forestry sector and the agricultural sector, among others.

Industry committee  Yes, exactly. We have not produced a study on the other sectors. We produced a study on the automobile sector and we are in the process of carrying out an environmental assessment, which will cover all of the other sectors. It will be tabled at a later date, once it has been completed.

Industry committee  Probably before the end of the year. It will be a preliminary environmental assessment. It is mandatory under the government environmental policy.

Industry committee  Thank you very much. Yes, we would note that the conclusions of the CAW study were diametrically opposed not only to our study but to the study that was carried out by Professor Van Biesebroeck. I will say that our economists have had a chance to take a look at it and have identified quite a large number of methodological weaknesses with the study that was carried out by the CAW.

Industry committee  Not at the moment. We have focussed our efforts on the automobile sector, as it is the most important one in terms of our relationship with Korea. It is also what is concerning the Canadian industry. That being said, we are in the process of carrying out an environmental assessment, in the context of which we will be studying the impact that a free trade agreement would have on all industries in Canada.

Industry committee  Allow me to address this issue. We have undertaken many qualitative studies, but they have not been as detailed as Industry Canada study on the automobile sector.

Industry committee  Prior to entry into the negotiations, we carried out comprehensive consultations with domestic stakeholders here in Canada. We also did extensive analysis and qualitative analysis to determine what the potential would be in an FTA with Korea. We also carried out exploratory discussions with the Korean government.

Industry committee  It would be lobster, shrimp and mackerel. Those are the three types that would be most valuable to us in the Korean market.

Industry committee  I do not think that it will sound the death knell for the Canadian industry. The shipbuilding industry is concerned about this initiative, but I do not think that Korea constitutes a real threat as its industry is concentrated in a different market sector. The Korean industry is primarily involved in building very large vessels, while the Canadian industry is more focused on small and medium-size vessels.

Industry committee  There are many, but...

Industry committee  Okay, I'll wrap up in one minute. It's also worth mentioning that a significant share of Canadian production, about 30%, has no comparable competition from Korea. Then there's the fact that the vast majority of Canadian production, about 84%, is exported to the United States, which would obviously not be directly affected by an FTA with Korea.

Industry committee  Thank you for your questions. I would say yes. As I said in my presentation, one of the main priorities of the government is to eliminate non-tariff measures in the Korean market. That is a high priority for us in the automobile industry. We know full well that the Korean market is not very open and that there are problems with the 8% tariff.

Industry committee  Yes, the U.S. automobile sector is facing exactly the same problem and, you are right, I have regular contact with the U.S. chief negotiator. We have had meetings with the U.S. government and the U.S. and Canadian automobile sectors to coordinate our efforts. We began negotiations with the Koreans at least six months before the Americans did.

Industry committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. We are certainly pleased to have this opportunity to brief you on the Canada-Korea free trade agreement negotiations, for which I lead Canada's negotiating team. Joining me today are some colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade: David Plunkett, the director general for bilateral and regional trade policy; Marvin Hildebrand, director of the bilateral market access division; Kendal Hembroff, deputy director of the bilateral market access division; and Cam MacKay, deputy director of the regional trade policy division and also the deputy chief negotiator for the Canada-Korea talks.

International Trade committee  With respect to the first point about releasing the studies, all I would say is that there is a bit of a tension between the interests of wanting to be as transparent as possible and also preserving our negotiating coinage at the table by not releasing too much of the internal analysis about how the impacts are going to play in one sector or another.