3.23 The United States did not see the relevance of Canada's argument that "the impact of botulism
scares in the United States had led to declines in Canadian salmon sales". Botulism was a
process-induced hazard. Previous botulism scares had been caused by United States processing plants
using United States-caught fish (since Canadian fish exports were restricted). Their impact on Canadian sales merely proved that such scares lead to a general (and temporary) fear of canned salmon products per se, without distinction as to source. In this light, it was obvious that Canada's export restrictions had had no effect, and could not have had an effect, on the likelihood of such scares or their impact on Canada's sales.