Click here for fact sheet (approximately 3 pages); click here for press release (approximately 2 pages)

On October 18, 2013, The European Union (EU) and Canada concluded a political agreement on the key elements of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). According to the press release, CETA will bring “almost all tariffs to zero, . . . liberalise trade in services, in particular financial services, telecommunications, energy and transport. For the first time ever, all Canadian levels of government will open up their public procurement markets to European suppliers. CETA will also bring the Canadian protection of intellectual property closer to the level of the EU, benefitting the pharmaceutical sector and exporters of agricultural products of specific geographical origin known as GIs.” Now that the political agreement has been concluded, technical discussions will commence in order to finalize the legal text of the agreement.