International Trade committee  The London Court of International Arbitration is an independent forum, so that's one benefit. It is a well-established and highly respected arbitration court. Its rules are highly established and well-respected, so we thought it was best to go under those rules. There are arbitration rules that govern the process, and countries can modify those rules if they want to.

International Trade committee  I think what Mr. Robertson said is correct. It is final and binding, and every international agreement is an agreement between two sovereign nations. You cannot force a country to listen if it doesn't want to. This dispute settlement is so good because it is almost like a commercial arbitration setting.

International Trade committee  Thank you, Chair. To start at the end and move to the beginning, to say that the only binding thing is termination is not correct. There are a bunch of steps that were carefully negotiated to make sure the arbitration itself is binding. The first step is consultations. You initiate a dispute and you have consultations.

International Trade committee  There are potential fundamental breaches of any agreement. In the dispute settlement system, you're anticipating the worst-case scenario. For the most part, it's meant to facilitate the natural commercial relations of the agreement. If there's a point where something is not cured, at that point it's not automatic termination.