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Trade and Investments Agreements and Current Negotiations

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Trade and Investments Agreements and Current Negotiations

This section references examples of past, current, and future trade policy topics of general interest, identifies relevant organizations, and links various websites that provide current and more in-depth information.

World Trade Organization (WTO) - A permanent world trade body was established in 1995 following the conclusion of the Uruguay Round of Negotiations on expanding the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The objectives of the WTO are to reduce barriers to trade and strengthen international trade rules to ensure that all 142 Members have fair and equal treatment in a global trading system. The Doha Summit (November 2001) launched an ambitious round of new negotiations with the aim of eliminating or reducing trade-distorting subsidies and domestic supports, and to achieve greater market access. A key stated objective of the Doha negotiation round is greater sensitivity to the problems of developing and least developed countries regarding trade obligations and benefits and to provide for capacity-building and technical assistance. Negotiations have been protracted and there is no certainty as to their successful completion. The original 1 January deadline was missed. After that, members unofficially aimed to finish the negotiations by the end of 2006, but the collapse of negotiations in July are not encouraging.  For reports and papers tracking progress of the post-Doha WTO negotiations, see the following websites:

World Trade Organization 
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) 
DFAIT's International Trade Canada  Trade in Services page 

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) carries out parallel research on current and topical trade matters. 

The WTO site provides extensive background documentation on the global trading system and conducts regular reviews of the trade regimes of member countries through the Trade Policy Review Mechanism. 

An important function and role of the WTO is that of providing an effective forum for the resolution of trade disputes, which have witnessed a sharp increase in the last number of years. Canada has been involved in a number of protracted disputes such as the disputes on soft-wood lumber, aircraft subsidies and the application of food safety standards. International Trade Canada (ITC) issues news releases and other information on cases involving Canada on the Trade Negotiations and Agreements section of its website. For its part, the WTO also posts status reports.

DFAIT also provides status reports and backgrounders on trade disputes as well as information on barriers to foreign trade and investment.

The Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade prepares reports on trade and investment policy issues, making use of hearings and invited submissions, as was the case most recently with its focus on the FTAA and WTO negotiations. Committee work can be accessed through the parliamentary website and International Trade Canada's responses to the latest parliamentary reports on Canada's trade negotiation interests are posted on the DFAIT website.  

The current round of agricultural trade negotiations has led to extensive discussions and analysis across Canada on relevant issues. Some of this information can be found at the following agriculture department sites:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.  
Alberta
Ontario

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
The Canada- United States Free Trade Agreement of 1989 was the basis for the trilateral North American FTA (NAFTA) in 1993. Given the volume of trade and investment between the United States and Canada the trading relationship is complex and not without problems. In particular, lumber, agri-food, and cultural services have each been topics for continuous consultations and formal dispute settlement. International Trade Canada posts status reports. Equally, the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) provides releases, position papers, US trade access interests and status reports, as well as hotlinks to relevant US agencies on its website. www.ustr.gov  Information on trade and market access to the United States (and other countries) is available through International Trade Canada and sites such as:
Export Source: Team Canada 
Canadian Trade Commissioner Service
Strategis: Industry Canada 
US Customs and Border Protection 

Free Trade Area of the Americas and other FTAs
With the emergence of various trading blocks in Central and South America and the interest in North America in forging closer hemispheric trading and investment links among governments, there was an original undertaking to negotiate a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement by 2005. The scope and timing of any ultimate agreement are unclear following the disagreements and compromises that characterized the Miami ministers meeting in late 2003. Working groups are engaged, however, on various topics and would be expected to draw on generally accepted rules and obligations in the WTO, NAFTA, and other regional agreements. There is now less possibility that some of these negotiations will parallel those under the WTO negotiating track in areas such as services, agriculture, and investment. There is extensive information on the FTAA website.

FTAA: Canada-Mercosur Trade and Investment Dialogue
Within the Context of the FTAA process, a Joint Declaration was issued on November 23, 2004, that included a commitment A...to promote the expansion of trade relations between Mercosur [Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay] and Canada..... The declaration called for negotiating enhanced market access in the areas of goods, services and investment.

Other Trade Agreements: Canada has also signed and implemented Free Trade Agreements with:
Chile  
Costa Rica 
Israel  

Current Negotiations: 
In addition to the FTAA, Canada is negotiating free trade agreements with:
Central America Four (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua) European Free Trade Association (EFTA) (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein)
Singapore
Republic of Korea  

Possible Negotiations: Mindful of the bilateral and regional trade alliances being initiated by other major trading countries, the Government of Canada has solicited domestic views on the possible scope of trade negotiations with the following partners:
Andean Community Countries 
CARICOM  
Dominican Republic  
European Union 

For additional information, please refer to the DFAIT website. 

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum

Formed in 1989, this 18 country forum has become significant in recent years due to the participation of major trading countries such as the US, Canada, Japan, and China and key new global players that, altogether, represented 50% of world trade by 1995. One of the most important developments in the Asia-Pacific arena was China=s accession to the WTO in late 2001. See the APEC website as well as Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada 

Internal Trade
The Agreement on Internal Trade is an agreement between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to reduce and eliminate, to the extent possible, barriers to the free movement of persons, goods, services, and investment within Canada and to establish an open, efficient, and stable domestic market.

Council of the Federation  
In December of 2003, the Premiers of Canada established the Council of the Federation as an institution for collaborative intergovernmental relations. The Premiers view the Council as a vehicle to improve the quality of life of Canadians by exercising leadership on issues of importance to Canadians and by improving federal-provincial-territorial relations. The Council identified strengthening the economic union, including enhancing internal trade as a priority area for cooperative intergovernmental action.
(Key issues)  

Premiers have approved a Workplan in February 2004 to guide Ministers responsible for Internal Trade in efforts to address internal trade barriers, including agreement on priority actions and the time frames for their completion. A progress report on the status of the workplan is available here: 
The workplan called on Provinces and Territories to take a number of immediate actions as well as short-term and long-term objectives Nova Scotia has been serving as chair of the Committee on Internal Trade since December of 2005.

Provincial Trade Policy
With the growing importance of trade/investment agreements and their reach beyond the jurisdictions of national governments, close working relationships within Canada have been established between responsible federal departments and provincial/territorial governments. Each government designates a Provincial Trade Representative for ongoing intergovernmental consultations/contact on trade/investment negotiations, agreements, and disputes. This individual may also be the designated Internal Trade Representative, as is the case in Nova Scotia, with respect to the Agreement on Internal Trade. 

Nova Scotia Provincial Trade Representative:

Senior Trade Policy Advisor/Analyst:

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