|
|
If we leave a term such as “forest management system” in the legal text of the agreement, nothing would prevent the Americans, or even the government of a province, from using that to refuse any change in the management system, even one that has nothing to do with softwood lumber. On that point, we were unable to secure assurances from the governments concerned that a clarification would be added to the agreement to state that it only applies to softwood lumber. However, the Americans did give us that assurance. As a result, we were willing to place our trust in them on that point; I say that quite candidly. As regards the remanufacturers, we simply dropped our request, as did the other national associations.
|