The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced that Canada’s free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) came into effect on July 1, 2009. Many Canadian exporters and producers will immediately benefit from duty-free access to the markets of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.
“Increasing trade and investment is a priority, and our government continues to open doors for Canadian business,” said Minister Day. “As we fight the global recession, this government is taking a strong stand against protectionism and moving forward with new free trade agreements.”
Canada’s Economic Action Plan includes a strong focus on helping Canadian businesses and investors succeed in the markets of the world. The ambitious trade agenda includes negotiations with a diverse array of countries and organizations in Europe, Asia, the Americas and the Middle East. Recently, Canada also successfully completed free trade negotiations with Peru and Colombia.
“This is Canada’s first free trade agreement with European countries, and we have also taken the first steps toward an agreement with the European Union,” added Minister Day. “By engaging more and more European partners, we can provide Canadian exporters with greater access to a growing list of the wealthiest and most sophisticated economies in the world.”
Under the EFTA agreement, Canada’s producers and exporters immediately benefit from the elimination of duties on all Canadian non-agricultural merchandise exports. Tariffs will also be eliminated or reduced on selected Canadian agricultural exports such as durum wheat, frozen french fries, beer and crude canola oil.
As well, Canadian companies will benefit from improved market access to innovative technologies and other inputs from EFTA markets through the elimination of import duties on industrial goods, including machinery and scientific and precision instruments.
Together, the EFTA countries were Canada’s seventh largest merchandise export destination in 2008. Canada exported $4.2 billion in merchandise to the EFTA countries in 2008, with two-way merchandise trade valued at $13.2 billion.