“Bridges, not walls”

Canada and EU celebrate next phase in free trade agreement discussions, but protectionism of certain EU members still a concern    The European Union scored a victory last week when a majority of its parliamentary members voted in favor of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.
CETA is the most sweeping free trade agreement ever reached by the European Union with another country.
   Through the FTA, Canada has agreed to eliminate 400 million euros worth of duties on goods originating in the European Union. Nearly 99 percent of those duties will be eliminated upon the deal taking effect.
   European firms will also have more opportunities to provide specialized maritime services to Canada, such as dredging, moving empty containers or shipping certain cargoes within the country.
   Similarly for Canada, only about 25 percent of its goods currently enter the European Union duty-free. Some of Canada’s most important exports, such as heavy machinery and maple syrup, still face tariffs in the European Union. Once CETA is fully implemented, 99 percent of EU tariff lines will be duty-free.
   CETA also represents Canada’s first bilateral FTA that includes a standalone chapter on regulatory cooperation with another country. The FTA establishes a Regulatory Cooperation Forum between Canada and the European Union to discuss regulatory policy issues and develop bilateral cooperation activities.
   “By fostering cooperation earlier in the regulatory process, the Forum is expected to enhance information sharing between Canadian and EU regulators, facilitate the development of more compatible regulatory measures, resulting in fewer barriers to trade,” the Canadian government said in a statement. “For example, a Canadian company, working through the Regulatory Cooperation Forum, will be able to request information at an early stage regarding new EU regulations in development, and provide comments and recommendations on how such regulations should be developed in order to prevent and eliminate unnecessary barriers to trade.”

In these uncertain times, with rising protectionism around the world, CETA underlines our strong commitment to sustainable trade.

   EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström called the European Parliament’s vote to approve CETA “the start of a new era in EU-Canada relations.”
   “By building bridges rather than walls, we can face the challenges that confront our societies together,” she added. “In these uncertain times, with rising protectionism around the world, CETA underlines our strong commitment to sustainable trade.”
   The European Union noted that CETA is expected to create new trade opportunities for its farmers and food producers, “while fully protecting the sensitivities of the EU.”
   The European Union explained that its “openings on certain products are limited and calibrated and are balanced out by Canadian openings that satisfy important European exporting interests, such as cheese, wine and spirits, fruits and vegetables, processed products and the protection of 143 high quality European products (so-called ‘geographical indications’) on the Canadian market.”
   When it comes to its trade expansion with Canada, the European Union said it will not bend on food safety, including controls on GMO products or its ban on hormone-treated beef.
   The European Union and Canada signed the trade agreement Oct. 30, 2016, and the European Parliament has now given the deal its consent. The Canadian government must next ratify the FTA, but it will only become fully implemented once Europe’s numerous individual parliaments also ratify the deal.
   This is where CETA could fall down, since there are numerous political parties within these individual countries’ parliaments who vehemently oppose the free trade deal in favor of protectionist measures.