European Union and Canada struck a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal on Friday. Here's what it is:
The European Union and Canada struck a multi-billion-dollar free-trade deal on Friday. Here are some of the details of the pact:
ECONOMIC BOOST
The deal, expected to come into force in 2015, is expected to increase bilateral trade in goods and services by a fifth to 25.7 billion euros ($35 billion) a year. For the European Union, this could raise annual economic output by 11.6 billion euros per year. Canada has put its economic gain at around C$12 billion ($11.67 billion), with the creation of 80,000 jobs.
TARIFFS
The European Union and Canada have agreed to eliminate tariffs on 99% of products and services. For EU exporters, the saving on duties will be some 500 million euros.
AGRICULTURE
The EU will eliminate duties on a range of Canadian agricultural products, from wheat to maple syrup. Canada will be able to export 80,000 tonnes of pork and 50,000 tonnes of beef free of duties to the European Union. EU dairy producers will be able to export more than double the amount of 'high quality' (i.e. not for industrial use) cheeses to Canada.
REGIONAL FOOD PRODUCTS
Canada will protect the special status of certain EU agricultural products. Under EU rules, "geographical indications" may only come from a specific country or region, such as parma ham from Italy and Camembert cheese from Normandy in France.
MEDICINE PATENTS
The trade deal aims to create a more level playing field between Canada and the European Union, the latter having complained that pharmaceutical patents are not sufficiently protected in Canada.
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
Federal and sub-federal levels of government in Canada have committed to open their markets for procurement to European suppliers, for example in urban transport. Federal government contracts are estimated to be worth some C$15-19 billion per year and those of Canadian municipalities at around C$112 billion.
CARS
The European Union will eliminate its tariffs of 10 percent on cars and up to 4.5% on auto parts from Canada, while Canada will recognise a list of EU car standards that will make it easier to export vehicles to Canada.
SERVICES
The European Union sees around half of the overall GDP gains coming from liberalising trade in services - financial, telecoms, energy and maritime transport.
INVESTMENT
The agreement aims to remove barriers to and enhance protection of foreign direct investment between the two parties, currently worth some 360 billion euros. ($1 = 1.0286 Canadian dollars)
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