The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada entered into force provisionally on 21 September and is expected to save EU businesses €590 million a year.
CETA removes duties on 98% of products (tariff lines) that the EU trades with Canada. It also gives EU companies the best access ever offered to companies from outside Canada to bid on the country’s public procurement contracts – not just at the federal level but also at provincial and municipal levels.
UK companies will be particularly interested in the agreement as the Government has suggested that a future trade agreement with the EU might well “cut and paste” the CETA provisions in a bid to speed up the negotiating process.
Given that, as a leading Member of the European Parliament (MEP) pointed out, “Canada is a country with which we share values and principles so it should have been simple to agree this deal” (and yet it still took seven years to get to this stage), any short cuts will obviously be welcome.
According to the European Commission, CETA will especially benefit smaller companies who can least afford the cost of the red tape involved in exporting to Canada.
They will save time and money, the Commission has suggested, by avoiding duplicative product testing requirements, lengthy customs procedures and costly legal fees.
It has published a Guide to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) for businesses which can be found at trade.ec.europa.eu.
EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said: “Things are about to change for our exporters. The provisional entry into force allows EU companies and citizens to start reaping the benefits of this agreement right away. This is a positive signal for the global economy, with the potential to boost economic growth and create jobs.”
