WT/REG419/M/1  
 
5 July 2022 
(22-5171) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Regional Trade Agreements  
Hundred and Third  Session    
 
AGREEMENT ON TRADE CONTINUITY BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND CANADA  
(GOODS  AND SERVICES ) 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF  27 JUNE  2022 
Chairm an: Ambassador H.E. Mr. Taeho LEE (Republic of Korea ) 
1.1.  The 10 3rd Session of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (hereinafter "CRTA" or the 
"Committee") was convened in Airgram WTO/AIR/RTA/ 28/Rev.1  dated 17 June 2022.  
1.2.  Under Agenda Item F.IV of the Session, the CRTA considered the Agreement on Trade 
Continuity between the United Kingdom and Canada , goods and services (hereinafter "the 
Agreement"). The Chairman  stated that the Factual Presentation had been prepared by the 
Secretariat on its own responsibility in full consultation with the Parties, in accordance with 
paragraph 7(b) of the Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Agreements 
(document  WT/L/671).  
1.3.  The Agreement had entered into force on  1 April 2021. It had been notified on 29 June 2021 
under Article  XXIV:7(a) of the GATT  1994 and Article V:7(a) of the GATS  
(documents  WT/REG419/N/1/Add.1 and S/C/N/1061 , respectively ) as an agreement establishing a 
free trade area for trade in goods and services  within the meaning of Article XXIV of the GATT 1994 
and Article V of the GATS, respectively . Prior to the entry into force of the Agreement , preferential 
trade in respect of trade in goods had been implemented as of 1 January 2021 through a 
Memorandum of Understanding. Th e MoU had been duly notified to the WTO on 31 December 2020 
under Article XXIV:7(a) of the GATT 1994, distributed as document WT/REG419/N/1.  The text of 
the Agreement and its Annexes was availab le on the Parties' official websites and in the WTO RTA 
database. The Factual Presentation on the goods and services aspects of the Agreement 
(document  WT/REG419/1  dated 12 April  2022) and questions and replies on th e Agreement 
(document WT/REG419/2 dated 10 June  2022) had been distributed.  
1.4.  The representative of the United Kingdom  stated that the Agreement had  successfully entered 
into force on 1 April 2021. It replicate d, to the extent  possible, the effects of the EU -Canada 
Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement ( hereinafter, " CETA"). 
1.5.  The Agreement reaffirm ed the strong relationship between the UK and Canada and had built 
upon historical links and shared principles and values.  Canada was one of the UK’s closest trad ing 
partners and the thriving trade relationship, underpinned by the Agreement , had been worth over 
GBP 21 billion in 2021.  
1.6.  The text of the  Agreement follow ed the short form approach, which incorporate d, by reference , 
the relevant provisions of the CETA with necessary modifications. The Parties had  agreed that using 
a short form agreement had been the most pragmatic and sensible approach to delivering continuity. 
The approach was like that used in other UK continuity a greements.  
1.7.  The Agreement  reproduce d the effects of the CETA as far as possible, including the 
establishment of institutional arrangements between the UK and Canada based on existing 
structures. For instance, the CETA Joint Committee had been  replaced by the TCA Joint Committee. 
This approach allow ed the ongoin g management and updating of the TCA.  The provisions of the 
CETA were applied mutatis mutandis , with the technical changes necessary to apply the Agreement WT/REG419/M/1  
 
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  as if it had been concluded between the UK and Canada in the first instance.  Where more substantive 
amendments had been  required to ensure operability in a bilateral context, or where the Parties had  
jointly agreed that mutatis mutandis  would not deliver adequate certainty or transparency, detailed 
amendments had been included in the Annexes to the Agree ment. In particular, Annexes 2 -A and 
Annex 2 -B concerning tariff elimination and tariff rate quota s, respectively were in a long form at. 
1.8.  For trade in services, the majority of the CETA’s relevant services provisions had been 
replicated in full under the Agreement , with only limited modifications to deliver continuity of effect , 
for example, replacing references to EU institutions with UK equivalents.  The financial services 
chapter of  the CETA set out an obligation for the Parties  to negotiate performance requirement 
principles for financial services within three years of the Agreement entering into force. In the 
Agreement , the Parties ha d agreed to ‘restart the clock’ on that provision.  
1.9.  The CETA provisions on the resolution of investment dispute s between investors and states 
(including financial services) had been  suspended in the Agreement . This was set out in Article V of 
the Agreement . Instead, the provisions would be subject to a comprehensive joint review.  
1.10.   He further indicated that a cross th e whole Agreement, most of the institutional provisions and 
bodies provided for in the CETA had been  incorporated and retained mutatis mutandis , although 
some modifications had been made to the naming and functioning of the bodies to ensure they were 
opera ble in a bilateral context.  
1.11.   Finally, Article IV of the Agreement commit ted both Parties to commencing negotiations on a 
new UK -Canada FTA no later than a year after the entry into force of the Agreement . This obligation 
had been successfully met by the Parties, with the launch of  negotiations on  the new FTA in Ottawa 
on 24 March 2022.  The UK looked  forward to continuing to work closely with Canad a on an 
agreement that was ambitious, modern and comprehensive.  
1.12.    The representative of Canada  thanked  Members for their interest in the Agreement  as well 
as the Secretariat for its work.  
1.13.   The United Kingdom was one of Canada's  most important allies and commercial partner s, and 
its third largest individual country trading partner in goods and services. The UK was also Canada's 
second largest individual partner in bilateral services trade, direct investment, and science , 
technology and innovation partnership s. Of the  3,700 Canadian companies on average export ing 
goods to the UK each year , more than 2% were small and medium size d enterprises. For these 
reasons Canada had been pleased to welcome the entry into force  of the Agreement  on 1 April 2021. 
The Agreement provide d certainty to traders by replicating the main benefits of the CETA. These 
include d the elimi nation of  tariffs on the vast majority of bilateral trade. As had been outlined in 
detail  by the UK , the Agreement was a short -form Agreement that incorporate d the CETA, mutatis 
mutandis , and had a few necessary modifications required to suit the bilateral context.  
1.14.   The Agreement  was a transitional Agreement providing stability and predictability, while 
Canada and the UK  negotiat ed a new bilateral FTA. It importantly include d a commitment to launch  
new Canada -UK FTA negotiations within a year of entry into force of the Agreement . Like the UK, 
Canada was please d to note that this commitment ha d been met successfully and that negotiations 
on the Canada -UK FTA had been launched on 24 March 2022. The ne gotiations were an important 
opportunity to secure a modern, inclusive agreement tailored to the Parties' bilateral interests and 
to further deepen the ir relationship.  
1.15.   The representative of the United States  thanked the Parties for their presentations and for 
providing valuable transparency on the Agreement.  
1.16.   The representative of European Union  welcomed the Agreement and thanked the Parties for 
the update and for their replies to written questions. She also wished the m success in the 
implementation of the A greement.  
1.17.   The representative of Japan  welcomed the Agreement and thanked the Parties for the 
presentation and for the replies to Japan's questions.  WT/REG419/M/1  
 
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  1.18.   The Chairman  noted the consideration of the Trade Continuity Agreement between the 
United  Kingdom and Canada had allowed the Committee to clarify a number of questions and 
conclude oral discussion of the RTA in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Transparency 
Mechanism. Any delegations wishing to ask follow -up questions were invited to forward submissions 
in writing to the Secretariat by 4 July 2022 and the Parties were asked to submit replies in writing 
by no later than 18 July 2022. In accordance with paragraph 13 of the Transparency Mechanism all 
written submissions, as well as the minutes of  the meeting would be circulated promptly, in all WTO 
official languages, and made available on the WTO website.  
1.19.   The Committee took note  of the comments made.  
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