Duty loss has been calculated on the basis of 2015 data, the budgetary impact of which will be EUR 311 million (80% of EUR 390 million). These duty losses will be spread out over a total of 7 years. The EU will eliminate 97.7% of the EU tariff lines at the entry into force of the agreement and then gradually within 3, 5 or 7 years for an additional 1% of tariff lines for imports of goods originating in Canada.

Specify the method for calculating the impact on revenue.

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

–☑ The proposal/initiative has the following financial impact:

–◻ The proposal/initiative has no financial impact on revenue.

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

–The proposal/initiative does not provide for co-financing by third parties.

Explain what is required, specifying the headings and budget lines concerned and the corresponding amounts.

–◻ The proposal/initiative requires application of the flexibility instrument or revision of the multiannual financial framework.

Explain what reprogramming is required, specifying the budget lines concerned and the corresponding amounts.

–◻ The proposal/initiative will entail reprogramming of the relevant heading in the multiannual financial framework.

The human resources required will be met by staff from the DG who are already assigned to management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

–☑ The proposal/initiative requires the use of human resources, as explained below:

–◻ The proposal/initiative does not require the use of human resources.

The appropriations required for human resources and other expenditure of an administrative nature will be met by appropriations from the DG that are already assigned to management of the action and/or have been redeployed within the DG, together if necessary with any additional allocation which may be granted to the managing DG under the annual allocation procedure and in the light of budgetary constraints.

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

–☑ The proposal/initiative requires the use of appropriations of an administrative nature, as explained below:

–◻ The proposal/initiative does not require the use of appropriations of an administrative nature

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

–☑ The proposal/initiative requires the use of operational appropriations, as explained below:

–◻ The proposal/initiative does not require the use of operational appropriations

TOTAL appropriations under HEADINGS 1 to 5 of the multiannual financial framework

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

TOTAL appropriations under HEADINGS 1 to 4 of the multiannual financial framework (Reference amount)

• TOTAL appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope for specific programmes

If more than one heading is affected by the proposal / initiative:

• TOTAL appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope for specific programmes

Appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope of specific programmes

Enter as many years as necessary to show the duration of the impact (see point 1.6)

within the meaning of Article 21(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation

within the meaning of Article 21(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation

As per the provisions of the framework agreement concluded with the organisation concerned. In addition, DG Trade’s anti-fraud strategy, which contains a dedicated chapter on financial management, will apply.

Given the estimated financial impact, no substantive quantifiable costs or benefits can be identified. The contribution will be part of DG Trade’s overall control system. As regards non-quantifiable benefits.

2.2.3.Estimate of the costs and benefits of the controls and assessment of the expected level of risk of error

As per the provisions of the framework agreement concluded with the organisation concerned. In particular, the applicable verification rules.

As per the provisions of the framework agreement concluded with the organisation concerned.

As per the provisions of the framework agreement concluded with the organisation concerned.

A contribution will be given to an "existing structure" (namely, the ICSID) so that it channels the retainer fees to be paid to the judges composing the ICS. It is only in case that a dispute arises that the fees for case management could materialize, the services of ICSID as secretariat being otherwise free of charge.

–If more than one management mode is indicated, please provide details in the ‘Comments’ section.

–◻ persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP pursuant to Title V of the TEU, and identified in the relevant basic act.

–◻ bodies governed by the private law of a Member State that are entrusted with the implementation of a public-private partnership and that provide adequate financial guarantees;

–◻ bodies governed by private law with a public service mission to the extent that they provide adequate financial guarantees;

–◻ bodies referred to in Articles 208 and 209 of the Financial Regulation;

–☑ international organisations and their agencies (to be specified);

–◻ third countries or the bodies they have designated;

–◻ by its departments, including by its staff in the Union delegations;

–Implementation with a start-up period from 2017 (subject to ratification in the Council and the European Parliament).

1.5.4.Compatibility and possible synergy with other appropriate instruments

Canada is one of the EUs oldest and closest strategic partners in the world. We have a long history of shared values and therefore work closely together on many global challenges such as the environment, climate change, energy security, regional stability etc. Canada is the 11th largest economy in the world and is the 12th largest trading partner of the EU. With CETA, European companies will receive the best treatment that Canada has ever offered to any trading partner, thus levelling the playing field on the Canadian market for EU operators. By opening markets, CETA should support growth and jobs in the EU and bring further benefits for European consumers.

Maintain or improve level of trade and investment flows between the EU and Canada.

1.5.1.Requirement(s) to be met in the short or long term

Maintaining or improving level of trade and investment flows between the EU and Canada.

Specify the indicators for monitoring implementation of the proposal/initiative.

The establishment of new Investment Court System will meet the high expectations of citizens and industry for a fairer, more transparent and institutionalised system of settling investment disputes.

The provisions in the CETA agreement having a budgetary impact relate to the setting up and running of the Investment Court System (ICS).

CETA will bring tangible benefits to European consumers and companies by eliminating or cutting customs duties.

Specify the effects which the proposal/initiative should have on the beneficiaries/groups targeted.

The proposal can be framed in the the first of the ten Juncker priorities – Job, Growth and Investment.

◻ The proposal/initiative relates to an action redirected towards a new action

◻ The proposal/initiative relates to the extension of an existing action

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its adoption.

The President of the Council is hereby authorised to designate the person empowered to sign the Agreement on behalf of the Union, subject to its conclusion.

The text of the Agreement is attached to this Decision.

The signing, on behalf of the Union, of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union and its Member States of the one part and Canada of the other part is hereby authorised, subject to its conclusion.

(3)In accordance with Article 30.6(1) of the Agreement it should not confer rights or obligations which can be directly invoked before Union or Member State courts or tribunals,

(2)The negotiations have been concluded and the Agreement should be signed on behalf of the Union, subject to the fulfilment of the procedures required for its conclusion at a later date.

(1)On 24 April 2009 the Council authorised the Commission to open negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada.

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 91, Article 100(2) and the first subparagraph of Article 207(4), in conjunction with Article 218(5), thereof,

on the signing on behalf of the European Union of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada of the one part, and the European Union and its Member States, of the other part

In CETA, the EU and Canada affirm their commitment to sustainable development. Both agree that trade and investment should further environmental protection and labour rights – and not be at their expense. The EU and Canada are committed to CETA helping to ensure that economic growth, social development and environmental protection are mutually supportive. CETA integrates the EU’s and Canada's obligations to international rules on workers’ rights and environmental protection, and gives a strong role to EU and Canadian civil society in participating in the implementation of the commitments in these areas in CETA. CETA also sets up a process for settling disputes, including government consultations and a panel of experts.

Many medium-sized and smaller businesses trading in agricultural products will benefit from Canada agreeing to protect 143 geographical indications for high-quality European products, such as Roquefort cheese, balsamic vinegar from Modena or Dutch Gouda cheese and many others.

CETA will create a more level playing field between Canada and the EU on intellectual property rights. It will strengthen the protection of copyrights (alignment with EU rules on protection of technological measures and digital rights management as well as on the liability of internet service providers) and enforcement (namely by foreseeing the possibility of provisional measures and injunctions for intermediaries involved in infringing activities). It will improve how Canada’s IPR system protects patents for EU pharmaceutical products. Canada also agreed to strengthen its border measures against counterfeit trademark goods, pirated copyright goods and counterfeit geographical indication goods.

The EU and Canada have agreed to accept each other’s conformity assessment certificates in areas such as electrical goods, electronic and radio equipment, toys, machinery or measuring equipment. This means that a conformity assessment body in the EU can test EU products for export to Canada according to Canadian rules and vice versa. This will avoid both sides doing the same test and could greatly reduce costs for companies and consumers alike. This is of particular benefit to smaller companies for whom paying twice for the same test can be prohibitive. While this falls short of how the EU operates within its borders, it is nevertheless a very big step forward in the EU's International agreements.

Canada has opened up its government tenders to EU companies to a greater extent than with any of its other trading partners. EU firms will be able to bid to provide goods and services not only at federal level but also to Canadian provinces and municipalities, the first non-Canadian firms to be able to do so. Canada’s provincial procurement market is estimated to be double the size of its federal equivalent.

CETA will make it easier for EU firms to export equipment, machinery and software by allowing firms to send maintenance engineers and other specialists to provide after-sales and related services.

CETA will make it easier for firms to move staff temporarily between the EU and Canada. This will facilitate European companies' operations in Canada. It will be also easier for providers of professional services to temporarily supply legal, accounting, architectural or similar services.

Easier transfers of company staff and other professionals between the EU and Canada

The agreement provides a framework to facilitate the mutual recognition of qualifications in regulated professions such as architects, accountants and engineers. The relevant professional organisations in the EU and Canada now have a framework that sets out the conditions for the negotiation of mutual recognition agreements for their respective professions. These will then have to be confirmed and agreed by the EU and Canada.

CETA includes all the innovations of the EU's new approach on investment and its dispute settlement mechanism, thus meeting the expectations of stakeholders for a fairer, more transparent and institutionalised system for the settlement of investment disputes. It introduces important innovations in this field, ensuring a high level of protection for investors, while fully preserving the right of governments to regulate and pursue legitimate public policy objectives such as the protection of health, safety or the environment. CETA represents a significant break with the traditional approach to investment protection and settlement of investment disputes in most of the existing bilateral investment treaties worldwide. It removes ambiguities that made the old system open to abuses or excessive interpretations and creates an independent investment court system, consisting of a permanent tribunal and an appeal tribunal that will conduct dispute settlement proceedings in a transparent and impartial manner.

CETA is by far the most far reaching agreement ever concluded by EU in the area of services and investment. European firms will have more opportunities to provide specialised maritime transport services like dredging, moving empty containers, and shipping of certain cargo within Canada. European firms will also have new advantages when it comes to getting investment projects approved in Canada, protecting their investments and enforcing their rights in case of unfair treatment through a balanced and effective dispute settlement system. For all services sectors, such as environmental services, telecom and finance, market access is ensured, both at federal level and - for the first time – provincial level. In CETA – as in all its trade agreements – the EU protects public services. Again, Canadian investors and service providers will have to respect applicable EU regulations.

CETA will bring tangible benefits to European consumers and companies by eliminating or cutting customs duties– some of the most far reaching cuts achieved by the EU in a trade agreement. This will provide important market opportunities for European companies including SMEs. Importantly, most customs duties will be removed as soon as CETA comes into effect. Cutting customs duties will not lower or change EU standards. Canadian imports will have to respect EU regulations.

By opening markets, CETA should support growth and jobs in the EU and bring further benefits for European consumers. It has the potential to keep prices down and provide consumers with greater choice of quality products. CETA will not change EU standards. Standards and regulations related to food safety, product safety, consumer protection, health, environment, social or labour standards etc. will remain untouched. All imports from Canada will have to satisfy all EU product rules and regulations – without exception.

CETA will significantly improve business opportunities for European companies in Canada. With CETA, European companies will receive the best treatment that Canada has ever offered to any trading partner, thus levelling the playing field on the Canadian market for EU companies.

CETA is a comprehensive trade and investment agreement which contains provisions on national treatment and market access for goods, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, customs and trade facilitation, subsidies, investment, cross-border trade in services, temporary entry and stay of natural persons for business purposes, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, domestic regulation, financial services, international maritime transport services, telecommunications, electronic commerce, competition policy, state enterprises, monopolies, and enterprises granted special rights or privileges, government procurement, intellectual property, regulatory cooperation, trade and sustainable development, trade and labour, trade and environment, bilateral dialogues and cooperation, administrative and institutional provisions, transparency and dispute settlement.

Certain actions will need to be taken in order to ensure implementation of the Agreement. These will be put in place in time for the application of the Agreement. These are a Commission implementing regulation to be adopted pursuant to Article 58(1) of Regulation (EU) No 952/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 October 2013 laying down the Union Customs Code opening the tariff rate quotas provided for by the Agreement.

To the extent that any of such specialised Committee has any decision-making power under CETA, those decisions will be taken in the same manner as those of the Joint Committee.

–the Joint Management Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, which addresses matters concerning sanitary and phytosanitary measures;

–the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee (JCCC), established under the 1998 Agreement between the European Community and Canada on Customs Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Customs Matters, which addresses matters under this Agreement concerning rules of origin, origin procedures, customs and trade facilitation, border measures and temporary suspension of preferential tariff treatment;

–the Committee on Services and Investment, which addresses matters concerning cross-border trade in services, investment, temporary entry, electronic commerce, and intellectual property rights related to services.

–the Committee on Trade in Goods, which addresses matters concerning trade in goods, tariffs, technical barriers to trade, the Protocol on the mutual acceptance of the results of conformity assessment and intellectual property rights related to goods. The Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Wines and Spirits, and the Joint Sectoral Group on Pharmaceuticals shall also be established under and report to the Committee on Trade in Goods.

The following specialised committees will be established under the auspices of the CETA Joint Committee:

As a special procedure, as stated in Article 30.2, the CETA Joint Committee cannot decide to amend a specific list of annexes for which the full amendment procedure will be needed. This list includes: Chapter 8 - Investment, Chapter 9 - Cross-Border Trade in Services, Chapter 10 - Temporary Entry and Stay of Natural Persons for Business Purposes, and Chapter 13 - Financial Services (with the exception for Annex 10-A List of Contact Points of the Member States of the European Union).

The possibility of Joint Committees adopting certain amendments is a common feature of all international agreements, including EU trade agreements.

The EU and Canada may, through the CETA Joint Committee, decide to amend the Annexes. When the Parties approve such a decision, it has to be subject to their respective applicable internal requirements and procedures. The EU therefore decides whether or not to agree to a decision of the Joint Committee by following the EU internal procedures as stipulated in the EU Treaty. The CETA Joint Committee can therefore not act without a decision of the EU institutions, taken according to the EU’s internal legal process.

It is important to note that the CETA Joint Committee is not an independent body and shall make its decisions and recommendations only by agreement between the EU and Canada. It will in no way restrict the decision-making power of regulators in the EU's Member States or at EU level, or of their authorising institutions.

The administrative and institutional chapter establishes a CETA Joint Committee that will continuously monitor the implementation, operation and impact of this agreement. The CETA Joint Committee is comprised of representatives of the European Union and representatives of Canada who will meet once a year or at the request of a Party and will supervise the work of all specialised committees and other bodies established under this Agreement.

On the other hand, the proposal entails the use of administrative resources under budget line XX 01 01 01 (Expenditure related to officials and temporary staff working with the Institution), since it is estimated that one Administrator will be dedicated as FTE to the tasks inherent to this agreement. This is indicated in the Legislative Financial Statement and is subject to the conditions mentioned in it.

On the EXPENDITURE: the CETA will be the first to incorporate the new Investment Court System (ICS) in the context of the Investment Dispute Resolution System. Accordingly, an amount of € 0,5 million of additional yearly expenditure is foreseen from 2017 onwards (subject to ratification) to finance the permanent structure comprising a First Instance and an Appeal Tribunal.

On the INCOME: it is estimated that foregone duty will reach an amount of € 311 million upon full implementation of the Agreement after seven years, as 97,7 % of the EU tariffs lines will be eliminated at the entry into force of the agreement and then an additional 1% gradually within 3, 5 or 7 years. The amount of € 311 million corresponds to the 80 % of estimated duties collected by EU Member States on imported Canadian products on the basis of 2015 data. The estimate takes into account the new Own Resources Decision, which lowers the collecting costs that Member States retain, from 25% to 20%.

The impact of this agreement for the EU budget will be twofold:

The proposal does not affect the protection of fundamental rights in the Union.

CETA is not subject to REFIT procedures; nevertheless it does have some special provisions for SMEs (for example potentially reducing the cost of litigation under the Investment Court System for claimants who are SMEs).

The EU and Canada have reached an ambitious agreement which will open new opportunities for trade and investment on both sides of the Atlantic and support jobs in Europe. CETA will remove customs duties, end limitations on access to public contracts, open up services' market, offer predictable conditions for investors and, last but not least, help prevent illegal copying of EU innovations and traditional products. The agreement also contains all the guarantees to make sure that the economic gains do not come at the expense of fundamental rights, social standards, governments' right to regulate, environment protection or consumers' health and safety.

Furthermore, the Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA), carried out during the negotiation, provides a comprehensive assessment of the potential impacts of trade liberalisation under the Agreement. The analysis assesses the economic, social and environmental impacts in Canada and the European Union across three main sectors, sixteen sub-sectors and seven cross-cutting issues. It also assesses the potential impacts of CETA on the U.S., Mexico and other countries and regions, including a number of developing countries as well as the EU Overseas Customs and Territories of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon and Greenland. The terms of reference, interim report, and the final report are available on the DG TRADE website:

In October 2008, the EU and Canada released their joint study "Assessing the Costs and Benefits of a Closer EU-Canada Economic Partnership". At the time the study indicated that the liberalisation of trade in goods and services will bring benefits both to the EU and to Canada. The full report is available on the DG TRADE website:

The CETA Sustainability Impact Assessment has been carried out by the external contractor “Development Solutions”.

A Joint EU-Canada study was produced with the assistance of Professor Walid Hejazi (Rotman Business School, University of Toronto) for the drafting of this study and Professor Joe Francois (University of Linz) for the economic modelling part of the study.

In addition, during the CETA negotiations, a range of consultation methods were used in the context of the Sustainability Impact Assessment. This included amongst others civil society meetings, a stakeholder workshop, and a project website with a discussion forum. The civil society meetings took place in Brussels and Ottawa and were attended by broad section of different interest groups and unions. The stakeholder workshop in Ottawa included participants from industry and trade associations, labour organisations, public workers’ unions and unions for workers in private sector, environmental organisations, etc. Several academic and institute-based experts also provided helpful comments on the SIA.

There appeared to be a particular emphasis on the need to remove tariff peaks and onerous non-tariff barriers to trade as well as a strong request for enhanced regulatory cooperation.

There was a general consensus among EU respondents that enhanced economic cooperation between Canada and the EU was desirable.

A high proportion of the respondents expressed the view that, despite the robustness of the existing trade and investment relationship between the EU and Canada, there were still many obstacles and therefore much potential to improve the bilateral relationship.

Prior to the start of the negotiations with Canada, the EU and Canada decided in 2007 to jointly undertake a study to examine and assess the costs and benefits of a closer economic partnership. In the context of this joint study, the European Commission and Canada carried out two stakeholder consultations. The European Commission undertook a web-based civil society consultation in February and March 2008 on the basis of a questionnaire covering various aspects of the EU-Canada trade and investment relationship. In March and April 2008 Canada distributed a similar questionnaire among the members of its domestic steering committee.

This proposal is in accordance with Article 218(5) TFEU, which envisages the adoption by the Council of decisions on international agreements. There exists no other legal instrument that could be used in order to achieve the objective expressed in this proposal.

This proposal is in line with the vision of Europe 2020 strategy and contributes to the Union's trade and development objectives.

The common commercial policy, in accordance with Article 3 of the TFEU, is defined as an exclusive Union competence. The Commission takes the view that other matters falling outside of the common commercial policy covered under this Agreement fall under the EU's exclusive competence.

CETA has identical objectives and essentially the same contents as the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore (EUSFTA). Therefore, the Union's competence is the same in both cases. In view of the doubts raised with regard to the extent and the nature of the Union's competence to conclude EUSFTA, in July 2015 the Commission requested from the Court of Justice an opinion under Article 218(11) TFEU (case A – 2/15). In case A -2/15 the Commission has expressed the view that the Union has exclusive competence to conclude EUSFTA alone and, in the alternative, that it has at least shared competence in those areas where the Union's competence is not exclusive. Many Member States, however, have expressed a different opinion. In view of this, and in order not to delay the signature of the Agreement, the Commission has decided to propose the signature of the Agreement as a mixed agreement. Nevertheless, this is without prejudice to the views expressed by the Commission in Case A – 2/15. Once the Court issues its opinion in case A-2/15, it will be necessary to draw the appropriate conclusions.

The Regulatory Cooperation Forum within CETA will function as a voluntary cooperation mechanism to exchange experiences and relevant information among regulators, and to help identify areas where regulators could cooperate. It will not be able to change existing regulations or develop new legislation. The Regulatory Cooperation Forum will only provide assistance and make suggestions to regulators and legislators. It will in no way restrict the decision-making power of regulators in the EU's Member States or at EU level.

CETA ensures that Governments’ right to regulate for public policies is fully preserved. In addition, any decision of the CETA Joint Committee has to be approved by each Party, and therefore subject to the EU’s applicable internal requirements and procedures.

Furthermore, like in all its other trade agreements, in CETA the EU fully safeguards public services. EU Member States will be able to run public monopolies for a particular service if they wish to. CETA will not force or incite governments to privatise or deregulate public services like water supply, health, social services or education. EU Member States will continue to be able to decide which services they wish to keep universal and public and to subsidise them if they want to. In addition, nothing in CETA will stop a government in a EU Member State to reverse in the future at any time any autonomous decision it may have taken to privatise these sectors.

CETA also includes chapters on Trade and Sustainable Development, Trade and Labour and Trade and Environment, which link the trade agreement to the EU’s overall objectives in sustainable development and specific objectives in the area of labour, environment, and climate change.

CETA is fully consistent with Union policies, including those affecting international trade. In this respect, CETA will not lower or amend EU legislation, nor it will amend, reduce or eliminate EU standards in any regulated area. All imports from Canada will have to satisfy EU rules and regulations (e.g. technical rules and product standards, sanitary or phytosanitary rules, regulations on food and safety, health and safety standards, rules on GMO’s, environmental protection, consumer protection, etc…).

Agreement between the Slovak Republic and the Government of Canada for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, done at Bratislava on 20 July 2010.

Agreement between the Government of Romania and the Government of Canada for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, done at Bucharest on 8 May 2009.

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of Canada for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, done at Warsaw on 6 April 2009.

Exchange of Notes between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Republic of Malta Constituting an Agreement Relating to Foreign Investment Insurance, done at Valletta on 24 May 1982.

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Latvia and the Government of Canada for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, done at Riga on 5 May 2009.

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Hungary and the Government of Canada for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments, done at Ottawa on 3 October 1991.

Agreement between the Czech Republic and Canada for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, done at Prague on 6 May 2009.

Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Government of Canada for the Promotion and Protection of Investments, done at Ottawa on 3 February 1997.

The bilateral agreements listed below shall cease to have effect, and shall be replaced and superseded by CETA. The termination of those agreements shall take effect from the date of entry into force of CETA.

The EU and Canada recognise the achievements that have been accomplished under the Agreement between the European Community and the Government of Canada on sanitary measures to protect public and animal health in respect of trade in live animals and animal products, done at Ottawa on 17 December 1998 (the “Veterinary Agreement”) and confirm their intention to continue this work under CETA. The 1998 Veterinary Agreement shall be replaced by CETA from the date of entry into force of CETA.

The 1998 Agreement on Mutual Recognition will be terminated from the date of entry into force of CETA.

The 1989 Alcoholic Beverages Agreement and the 2003 Wines and Spirit Drinks Agreement will be incorporated into and made part of CETA, as amended by Annex 30-B.

These agreements will remain in place with the exception that:

The EU and Canada have a longstanding trade and economic cooperation relationship, developed under the 1976 Framework Agreement for Commercial and Economic Cooperation, the 1996 Joint Action Plan and the 1998 EU-Canada Trade Initiative. In addition, the EU and Canada have concluded several bilateral sectoral agreements, notably the 1996 Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, the 1998 Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Conformity Assessments, the 1998 Veterinary Agreement, the 1999 Competition Agreement, the 2003 Agreement on Trade in Wines and Spirits Drinks, the 2009 Civil Aviation Safety Agreement and the 2009 Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement.

The CETA negotiations were completed and initialled at the level of the Chief Negotiators on 1 August 2014 and President Barroso, President Van Rompuy and Prime Minister Harper jointly announced the end of the CETA negotiations at the EU-Canada Summit on 26 September 2014 following which the text of the agreement was made public the same day. The legally reviewed text of CETA has been published on 29 February 2016 and can be found on the following link:

The attached proposal for a Council Decision constitutes the legal instrument for the signing of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Canada, of the other part.

To this end, the EU and Canada have reached an ambitious agreement which will open up new opportunities for trade and investment for economic actors on both sides of the Atlantic. Both sides have also underlined through this agreement the importance of economic activity taking place within a framework of clear and transparent regulation defined by public authorities, and that they consider the right to regulate in the public interest as a basic underlying principle of the Agreement.

On the basis of negotiating directives adopted by the Council, the European Commission has negotiated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with a view to establishing a state of the art and priviledged economic relationship with Canada. Canada is a strategic partner of the European Union with whom we share a past history based on common values and interests, and with whom we also wish to define a positive forward-looking relationship for the future. This should create new opportunities for trade and investment between the European Union and Canada, notably through improved market access for goods and services and enhanced rules on trade for economic actors.

on the signing on behalf of the European Union of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada of the one part, and the European Union and its Member States, of the other part

EUROPEAN COMMISSION Strasbourg, 5.7.2016 COM(2016) 444 final ANNEX

to the Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing on behalf of the European Union of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada of the one part, and the European Union and its Member States, of the other part





COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC AND TRADE AGREEMENT (CETA) BETWEEN CANADA, OF THE ONE PART, AND THE EUROPEAN UNION AND ITS MEMBER STATES, , THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM, THE REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA, THE CZECH REPUBLIC, THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK, THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, THE REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA, IRELAND, THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,

THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN, THE FRENCH REPUBLIC, THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA, THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS, THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA, THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA, THE GRAND DUCHY OF LUXEMBOURG, HUNGARY, THE REPUBLIC OF MALTA,

THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS, THE REPUBLIC OF AUSTRIA, THE REPUBLIC OF POLAND, THE PORTUGUESE REPUBLIC, ROMANIA, THE REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA, THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC,

THE REPUBLIC OF FINLAND, THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN, THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND,

OF THE OTHER PART, hereafter jointly referred to as the "Parties", resolve to: FURTHER strengthen their close economic relationship and build upon their respective rights and obligations under the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on 15 April 1994, and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of cooperation; CREATE an expanded and secure market for their goods and services through the reduction or elimination of barriers to trade and investment; ESTABLISH clear, transparent, predictable and mutuallyadvantageous rules to govern their trade and investment; AND,

REAFFIRMING their strong attachment to democracy and to fundamental rights as laid down in The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, done at Paris on 10 December 1948, and sharing the view that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction poses a major threat to international security; RECOGNISING the importance of international security, democracy, human rights and the rule of law for the development of international trade and economic cooperation;

RECOGNISING that the provisions of this Agreement preserve the right of the Parties to regulate within their territories and the Parties' flexibility to achieve legitimate policy objectives, such as public health, safety, environment, public morals and the promotion and protection of cultural diversity; AFFIRMING their commitments as parties to the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, done at Paris on 20 October 2005, and recognising that states have the right to preserve, develop and implement their cultural policies, to support their cultural industries for the purpose of strengthening the diversity of cultural expressions, and to preserve their cultural identity, including through the use of regulatory measures and financial support; RECOGNISING that the provisions of this Agreement protect investments and investors with respect to their investments, and are intended to stimulate mutuallybeneficial business activity, without undermining the right of the Parties to regulate in the public interest within their territories;

REAFFIRMING their commitment to promote sustainable development and the development of international trade in such a way as to contribute to sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions; ENCOURAGING enterprises operating within their territory or subject to their jurisdiction to respect internationally recognised guidelines and principles of corporate social responsibility, including the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and to pursue best practices of responsible business conduct; IMPLEMENTING this Agreement in a manner consistent with the enforcement of their respective labour and environmental laws and that enhances their levels of labour and environmental protection, and building upon their international commitments on labour and environmental matters; RECOGNISING the strong link between innovation and trade, and the importance of innovation to future economic growth, and affirming their commitment to encourage the expansion of cooperation in the area of innovation, as well as the related areas of research and development and science and technology, and to promote the involvement of relevant public and private sector entities; HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

CHAPTER ONE GENERAL DEFINITIONS AND INITIAL PROVISIONS

SECTION A General definitions ARTICLE 1.1 Definitions of general application For the purposes of this Agreement and unless otherwise specified: administrative ruling of general application means an administrative ruling or interpretation that applies to all persons and fact situations that fall generally within its ambit and that establishes a norm of conduct but does not include: (a) a determination or ruling made in an administrative or quasijudicial proceeding that applies to a particular person, good or service of the other Party in a specific case; or (b) a ruling that adjudicates with respect to a particular act or practice;

Agreement on Agriculture means the Agreement on Agriculture, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;

agricultural good means a product listed in Annex 1 to the Agreement on Agriculture; Antidumping Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement; CETA contact points means the contact points established under Article 26.5 (CETA contact points); CETA Joint Committee means the CETA Joint Committee established under Article 26.1 (The CETA Joint Committee); CPC means the provisional Central Product Classification as set out in Statistical Office of the United Nations, Statistical Papers, Series M, N° 77, CPC prov, 1991; cultural industries means persons engaged in: (a) the publication, distribution or sale of books, magazines, periodicals or newspapers in print or machinereadable form, except when printing or typesetting any of the foregoing is the only activity; (b) the production, distribution, sale or exhibition of film or video recordings;

(c) the production, distribution, sale or exhibition of audio or video music recordings; (d) the publication, distribution or sale of music in print or machinereadable form; or

(e) radiocommunications in which the transmissions are intended for direct reception by the general public, and all radio, television and cable broadcasting undertakings and all satellite programming and broadcast network services; customs duty means a duty or charge of any kind imposed on or in connection with the importation of a good, including a form of surtax or surcharge imposed on or in connection with that importation, but does not include: (a) a charge equivalent to an internal tax imposed consistently with Article 2.3 (National treatment); (b) a measure applied in accordance with the provisions of Articles VI or XIX of the GATT 1994, the Antidumping Agreement, the SCM Agreement, the Safeguards Agreement, or Article 22 of the DSU; or (c) a fee or other charge imposed consistently with Article VIII of the GATT 1994; Customs Valuation Agreement means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VII of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement;

days means calendar days, including weekends and holidays; DSU means the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, contained in Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement; enterprise means an entity constituted or organised under applicable law, whether or not for profit, and whether privately or governmentally owned or controlled, including a corporation, trust, partnership, sole proprietorship, joint venture or other association; existing means in effect on the date of entry into force of this Agreement;

GATS means the General Agreement on Trade in Services, contained in Annex 1B to the WTO Agreement; GATT 1994 means the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement; goods of a Party means domestic products as these are understood in the GATT 1994 or such goods as the Parties may decide, and includes originating goods of that Party; Harmonized System (HS) means the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, including its General Rules of Interpretation, Section Notes, Chapter Notes and subheading notes;



heading means a fourdigit number or the first four digits of a number used in the nomenclature of the HS; measure includes a law, regulation, rule, procedure, decision, administrative action, requirement, practice or any other form of measure by a Party; national means a natural person who is a citizen as defined in Article 1.2, or is a permanent resident of a Party; originating means qualifying under the rules of origin set out in the Protocol on Rules of Origin and Origin Procedures; Parties means, on the one hand, the European Union or its Member States or the European Union and its Member States within their respective areas of competence as derived from the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functionning of the European Union (hereinafter referred to as the 'EU Party'), and on the other hand, Canada;

person means a natural person or an enterprise; person of a Party means a national or an enterprise of a Party; preferential tariff treatment means the application of the duty rate under this Agreement to an originating good pursuant to the tariff elimination schedule; Safeguards Agreement means the Agreement on Safeguards, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement; sanitary or phytosanitary measure means a measure referred to in Annex A, paragraph 1 of the SPS Agreement;



SCM Agreement means the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement; service supplier means a person that supplies or seeks to supply a service; SPS Agreement means the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement; state enterprise means an enterprise that is owned or controlled by a Party; subheading means a sixdigit number or the first six digits of a number used in the nomenclature of the HS;

tariff classification means the classification of a good or material under a chapter, heading or subheading of the HS; tariff elimination schedule means Annex 2A (Tariff elimination); TBT Agreement means the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, contained in Annex 1A to the WTO Agreement; territory means the territory where this Agreement applies as set out under Article 1.3;



third country means a country or territory outside the geographic scope of application of this Agreement; TRIPS Agreement means the Agreement on TradeRelated Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, contained in Annex 1C to the WTO Agreement; Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties means the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, done at Vienna on 23 May 1969; WTO means the World Trade Organization; and WTO Agreement means the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, done on 15 April 1994.





ARTICLE 1.2 Partyspecific definitions For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise specified: citizen means: (a) for Canada, a natural person who is a citizen of Canada under Canadian legislation; (b) for the EU Party, a natural person holding the nationality of a Member State; and central government means: (a) for Canada, the Government of Canada; and (b) for the EU Party, the European Union or the national governments of its Member States;





ARTICLE 1.3 Geographical scope of application Unless otherwise specified, this Agreement applies: (a) for Canada, to: (i) the land territory, air space, internal waters, and territorial sea of Canada; (ii) the exclusive economic zone of Canada, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with Part V of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, done at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982 ("UNCLOS"); and, (iii) the continental shelf of Canada, as determined by its domestic law, consistent with Part VI of UNCLOS; (b) for the European Union, to the territories in which the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties. As regards the provisions concerning the tariff treatment of goods, this Agreement shall also apply to the areas of the European Union customs territory not covered by the first sentence of this subparagraph.



SECTION B

Initial provisions ARTICLE 1.4 Establishment of a free trade area The Parties hereby establish a free trade area in conformity with Article XXIV of GATT 1994 and Article V of the GATS. ARTICLE 1.5 Relation to the WTO Agreement and other agreements The Parties affirm their rights and obligations with respect to each other under the WTO Agreement and other agreements to which they are party.



ARTICLE 1.6

Reference to other agreements When this Agreement refers to or incorporates by reference other agreements or legal instruments in whole or in part, those references include: (a) related annexes, protocols, footnotes, interpretative notes and explanatory notes; and (b) successor agreements to which the Parties are party or amendments that are binding on the Parties, except where the reference affirms existing rights. ARTICLE 1.7 Reference to laws When this Agreement refers to laws, either generally or by reference to a specific statute, regulation or directive, the reference is to the laws, as they may be amended, unless otherwise indicated.



ARTICLE 1.8 Extent of obligations

1. Each Party is fully responsible for the observance of all provisions of this Agreement. 2. Each Party shall ensure that all necessary measures are taken in order to give effect to the provisions of this Agreement, including their observance at all levels of government. ARTICLE 1.9 Rights and obligations relating to water 1. The Parties recognise that water in its natural state, including water in lakes, rivers, reservoirs, aquifers and water basins, is not a good or a product. Therefore, only Chapters TwentyTwo (Trade and Sustainable Development) and TwentyFour (Trade and Environment) apply to such water. 2. Each Party has the right to protect and preserve its natural water resources. Nothing in this Agreement obliges a Party to permit the commercial use of water for any purpose, including its withdrawal, extraction or diversion for export in bulk. 3. If a Party permits the commercial use of a specific water source, it shall do so in a manner consistent with this Agreement.



ARTICLE 1.10

Persons exercising delegated governmental authority Unless otherwise specified in this Agreement, each Party shall ensure that a person that has been delegated regulatory, administrative or other governmental authority by a Party, at any level of government, acts in accordance with the Party's obligations as set out under this Agreement in the exercise of that authority. CHAPTER TWO NATIONAL TREATMENT AND MARKET ACCESS FOR GOODS ARTICLE 2.1 Objective The Parties shall progressively liberalise trade in goods in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement over a transitional period starting from the entry into force of this Agreement.

ARTICLE 2.2

Scope This Chapter applies to trade in goods of a Party, as defined in Chapter 1 (General Definitions and Initial Provisions), except as otherwise provided in this Agreement. ARTICLE 2.3 National treatment 1. Each Party shall accord national treatment to the goods of the other Party in accordance with Article III of the GATT 1994. To this end Article III of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made part of this Agreement. 2. Paragraph 1 means, with respect to a government in Canada other than at the federal level, or a government of or in a Member State of the European Union, treatment no less favourable than that accorded by that government to like, directly competitive or substitutable goods of Canada or the Member State, respectively.



3. This Article does not apply to a measure, including a measure's continuation, prompt renewal or amendment, in respect of Canadian excise duties on absolute alcohol, as listed under tariff item 2207.10.90 in Canada's Schedule of Concessions (Schedule V) annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994, done on 15 April 1994 (the "Marrakesh Protocol"), used in manufacturing under provisions of the Excise Act, 2001, S.C. 2002, c. 22. ARTICLE 2.4 Reduction and elimination of customs duties on imports

1. Each Party shall reduce or eliminate customs duties on goods originating in either Party in accordance with the tariff elimination schedules in Annex 2A. For the purposes of this Chapter, "originating" means originating in either Party under the rules of origin set out in the Protocol on rules of origin and origin procedures. 2. For each good, the base rate of customs duties to which the successive reductions under paragraph 1 are to be applied shall be that specified in Annex 2A. 3. For goods that are subject to tariff preferences as listed in a Party's tariff elimination schedule in Annex 2A, each Party shall apply to originating goods of the other Party the lesser of the customs duties resulting from a comparison between the rate calculated in accordance with that Party's Schedule and its applied MostFavouredNation ("MFN") rate.



4. On the request of a Party, the Parties may consult to consider accelerating and broadening the scope of the elimination of customs duties on imports between the Parties. A decision of the CETA Joint Committee on the acceleration or elimination of a customs duty on a good shall supersede any duty rate or staging category determined pursuant to the Parties' Schedules in Annex 2A for that good when approved by each Party in accordance with its applicable legal procedures. ARTICLE 2.5 Restriction on duty drawback, duty deferral and duty suspension programs 1. Subject to paragraphs 2 and 3, a Party shall not refund, defer or suspend a customs duty paid or payable on a nonoriginating good imported into its territory on the express condition that the good, or an identical, equivalent or similar substitute, is used as a material in the production of another good that is subsequently exported to the territory of the other Party under preferential tariff treatment pursuant to this Agreement. 2. Paragraph 1 does not apply to a Party's regime of tariff reduction, suspension or remission, either permanent or temporary, if the reduction, suspension or remission is not expressly conditioned on the exportation of a good. 3. Paragraph 1 does not apply until three years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement.





ARTICLE 2.6 Duties, taxes or other fees and charges on exports A Party may not adopt or maintain any duties, taxes or other fees and charges imposed on, or in connection with, the export of a good to the other Party, or any internal taxes or fees and charges on a good exported to the other Party, that is in excess of those that would be imposed on those goods when destined for internal sale. ARTICLE 2.7 Standstill 1. Upon the entry into force of this Agreement a Party may not increase a customs duty existing at entry into force, or adopt a new customs duty, on a good originating in the Parties. 2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, a Party may: (a) modify a tariff outside this Agreement on a good for which no tariff preference is claimed under this Agreement; (b) increase a customs duty to the level established in its Schedule in Annex 2A following a unilateral reduction; or





(c) maintain or increase a customs duty as authorised by this Agreement or any agreement under the WTO Agreement. 3. Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 and 2, only Canada may apply a special safeguard pursuant to Article 5 of the WTO Agreement on Agriculture. A special safeguard may only be applied with respect to goods classified in items with the notation "SSG" in Canada's Schedule included in Annex 2A. The use of this special safeguard is limited to imports not subject to tariff preference and, in the case of imports subject to a tariff rate quota, to imports over the access commitment. ARTICLE 2.8 Temporary suspension of preferential tariff treatment 1. A Party may temporarily suspend, in accordance with paragraphs 2 through 5, the preferential tariff treatment under this Agreement with respect to a good exported or produced by a person of the other Party if the Party: (a) as a result of an investigation based on objective, compelling and verifiable information, makes a finding that the person of the other Party has committed systematic breaches of customs legislation in order to obtain preferential tariff treatment under this Agreement; or



(b) makes a finding that the other Party systematically and unjustifiably refuses to cooperate with respect to the investigation of breaches of customs legislation under Article 6.13.4 (Cooperation), and the Party requesting cooperation, based on objective, compelling and verifiable information, has reasonable grounds to conclude that the person of the other Party has committed systematic breaches of customs legislation in order to obtain preferential tariff treatment under this Agreement. 2. A Party that has made a finding referred to in paragraph 1 shall:

(a) notify the customs authority of the other Party and provide the information and evidence upon which the finding was based; (b) engage in consultations with the authorities of the other Party with a view to achieving a mutually acceptable resolution that addresses the concerns that resulted in the finding; and (c) provide written notice to that person of the other Party that includes the information that is the basis of the finding. 3. If the authorities have not achieved a mutually acceptable resolution after 30 days, the Party that has made the finding shall refer the issue to the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee.



4. If the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee has not resolved the issue after 60 days, the Party that has made the finding may temporarily suspend the preferential tariff treatment under this Agreement with respect to that good of that person of the other Party. The temporary suspension does not apply to a good that is already in transit between the Parties on the day that the temporary suspension comes into effect. 5. The Party applying the temporary suspension under paragraph 1 shall only apply it for a period commensurate with the impact on the financial interests of that Party resulting from the situation responsible for the finding made pursuant to paragraph 1, to a maximum of 90 days. If the Party has reasonable grounds based on objective, compelling and verifiable information that the conditions that gave rise to the initial suspension have not changed after the expiry of the 90 day period, that Party may renew the suspension for a further period of no longer than 90 days. The original suspension and any renewed suspensions are subject to periodic consultations within the Joint Customs Cooperation Committee. ARTICLE 2.9 Fees and other charges 1. In accordance with Article VIII of GATT 1994, a Party shall not adopt or maintain a fee or charge on or in connection with importation or exportation of a good of a Party that is not commensurate with the cost of services rendered or that represents an indirect protection to domestic goods or a taxation of imports or exports for fiscal purposes.





2. For greater certainty, paragraph 1 does not prevent a Party from imposing a customs duty or a charge set out in paragraphs (a) through (c) of the definition of customs duty under Article 1.1 (Definitions of general application). ARTICLE 2.10 Goods reentered after repair or alteration 1. For the purposes of this Article, repair or alteration means any processing operation undertaken on goods to remedy operating defects or material damage and entailing the reestablishment of goods to their original function or to ensure their compliance with technical requirements for their use, without which the goods could no longer be used in the normal way for the purposes for which they were intended. Repair or alteration of goods includes restoration and maintenance but does not include an operation or process that: (a) destroys the essential characteristics of a good or creates a new or commercially different good; (b) transforms an unfinished good into a finished good; or (c) is used to substantially change the function of a good.



2. Except as provided in footnote 1, a Party shall not apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, that reenters its territory after that good has been temporarily exported from its territory to the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration, regardless of whether such repair or alteration could be performed in the territory of the Party from which the good was exported for repair or alteration., 3. Paragraph 2 does not apply to a good imported in bond, into free trade zones, or in similar status, that is then exported for repair and is not reimported in bond, into free trade zones, or in similar status.

4. A Party shall not apply a customs duty to a good, regardless of its origin, imported temporarily from the territory of the other Party for repair or alteration. ARTICLE 2.11 Import and export restrictions 1. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, a Party shall not adopt or maintain any prohibition or restriction on the importation of any good of the other Party or on the exportation or sale for export of any good destined for the territory of the other Party, except in accordance with Article XI of the GATT 1994. To this end Article XI of the GATT 1994 is incorporated into and made a part of this Agreement.



2. If a Party adopts or maintains a prohibition or restriction on the importation from or exportation to a third country of a good, that Party may: (a) limit or prohibit the importation from the territory of the other Party of a good of that third country; or (b) limit or prohibit the exportation of a good to that third country through the territory of the other Party. 3. If a Party adopts or maintains a prohibition or restriction on the importation of a good from a third country, the Parties, at the request of the other Party, shall enter into discussions with a view to avoiding undue interference with or distortion of pricing, marketing or distribution arrangements in the other Party. 4. This Article does not apply to a measure, including that measure's continuation, prompt renewal or amendment, in respect of the following:

(a) the export of logs of all species. If a Party ceases to require export permits for logs destined for a third country, that Party will permanently cease requiring export permits for logs destined for the other Party; (b) for a period of three years following the entry into force of this Agreement, the export of unprocessed fish pursuant to Newfoundland and Labrador's applicable legislation;



(c) Canadian excise duties on absolute alcohol, as listed under tariff item 2207.10.90 in Canada's Schedule of Concessions annexed to the Marrakesh Protocol (Schedule V), used in manufacturing under the provisions of the Excise Act, 2001, S.C. 2002, c. 22; and (d) The importation of used vehicles into Canada that do not conform to Canada's safety and environmental requirements. ARTICLE 2.12 Other provisions related to trade in goods Each Party shall endeavour to ensure that a good of the other Party that has been imported into and lawfully sold or offered for sale in any place in the territory of the importing Party may also be sold or offered for sale throughout the territory of the importing Party. ARTICLE 2.13

Committee on trade in goods 1. The functions of the Committee on Trade in Goods established under Article 26.2.1 (a) (Specialised committees) include: (a) promoting trade in goods between the Parties, including through consultations on accelerating tariff elimination under this Agreement and other issues as appropriate;



(b) recommending to the CETA Joint Committee a modification of or an addition to any provision of this Agreement related to the Harmonized System; and (c) promptly addressing issues related to movement of goods through the Parties' ports of entry. 2. The Committee on Trade in Goods may present to the CETA Joint Committee draft decisions on the acceleration or elimination of a customs duty on a good. 3. The Committee on Agriculture established under Article 26.2.1 (a) (Specialised committees) shall: (a) meet within 90 days of a request by a Party; (b) provide a forum for the Parties to discuss issues related to agricultural goods covered by this Agreement; and (c) refer to the Committee on Trade in Goods any unresolved issue under subparagraph (b).

4. The Parties note the cooperation and exchange of information on agriculture issues under the annual CanadaEuropean Union Agriculture Dialogue, as established in letters exchanged on 14 July 2008. As appropriate, the Agriculture Dialogue may be used for the purpose of paragraph 3.



CHAPTER THREE TRADE REMEDIES SECTION A Antidumping and countervailing measures ARTICLE 3.1 General provisions concerning antidumping and countervailing measures 1. The Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations under Article VI of GATT 1994, the Antidumping Agreement and the SCM Agreement.

2. The Protocol on rules of origin and origin procedures shall not apply to antidumping and countervailing measures.



ARTICLE 3.2 Transparency 1. Each Party shall apply antidumping and countervailing measures in accordance with the relevant WTO requirements and pursuant to a fair and transparent process. 2. A Party shall ensure, after an imposition of provisional measures and, in any case, before a final determination is made, full and meaningful disclosure of all essential facts under consideration which form the basis for the decision whether to apply final measures. This is without prejudice to Article 6.5 of the AntiDumping Agreement and Article 12.4 of the SCM Agreement. 3. Provided it does not unnecessarily delay the conduct of the investigation, each interested party in an antidumping or countervailing investigation shall be granted a full opportunity to defend its interests. ARTICLE 3.3 Consideration of public interest and lesser duty

1. Each Party's authorities shall consider information provided in accordance with the Party's law as to whether imposing an antidumping or countervailing duty would not be in the public interest.



2. After considering the information referred to in paragraph 1, the Party's authorities may consider whether the amount of the antidumping or countervailing duty to be imposed shall be the full margin of dumping or amount of subsidy or a lesser amount, in accordance with the Party's law. SECTION B Global safeguard measures ARTICLE 3.4 General provisions concerning global safeguard measures 1. The Parties reaffirm their rights and obligations concerning global safeguard measures under Article XIX of GATT 1994 and the Safeguards Agreement. 2. The Protocol on rules of origin and origin procedures shall not apply to global safeguard measures.





ARTICLE 3.5 Transparency 1. At the request of the exporting Party, the Party initiating a safeguard investigation or intending to adopt provisional or definitive global safeguard measures shall immediately provide: (a) the information referred to in Article 12.2 of the Safeguards Agreement, in the format prescribed by the WTO Committee on Safeguards; (b) the public version of the complaint filed by the domestic industry, where relevant; and (c) a public report setting forth the findings and reasoned conclusions on all pertinent issues of fact and law considered in the safeguard investigation. The public report shall include an analysis that attributes injury to the factors causing it and set out the method used in defining the global safeguard measures. 2. When information is provided under this Article, the importing Party shall offer to hold consultations with the exporting Party in order to review the information provided.



ARTICLE 3.6 Imposition of definitive measures

1. A Party adopting global safeguard measures shall endeavour to impose them in a way that least affects bilateral trade. 2. The importing Party shall offer to hold consultations with the exporting Party in order to review the matter referred to in paragraph 1. The importing Party shall not adopt measures until 30 days have elapsed since the date the offer to hold consultations was made. SECTION C General provisions ARTICLE 3.7 Exclusion from dispute settlement This Chapter is not subject to Chapter TwentyNine (Dispute Settlement).



CHAPTER FOUR

TECHNICAL BARRIERS TO TRADE ARTICLE 4.1 Scope and definitions 1. This Chapter applies to the preparation, adoption, and application of technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures that may affect trade in goods between the Parties. 2. This Chapter does not apply to: (a) purchasing specifications prepared by a governmental body for production or consumption requirements of governmental bodies; or (b) a sanitary or phytosanitary measure as defined in Annex A of the SPS Agreement. 3. Except where this Agreement, including the incorporated provisions of the TBT Agreement pursuant to Article 4.2, defines or gives a meaning to a term, the general terms for standardisation and conformity assessment procedures shall normally have the meaning given to them by the definition adopted within the United Nations system and by international standardising bodies taking into account their context and in the light of the object and purpose of this Chapter.



4. References in this Chapter to technical regulations, standards, and conformity assessment procedures include amendments thereto, and additions to the rules or the product coverage thereof, except amendments and additions of an insignificant nature.

5. Article 1.8.2 (Extent of obligations) does not apply to Articles 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 of the TBT Agreement, as incorporated into this Agreement. ARTICLE 4.2 Incorporation of the TBT Agreement 1. The following provisions of the TBT Agreement are hereby incorporated into and made part of this Agreement: (a) Article 2 (Preparation, Adoption and Application of Technical Regulations by Central Government Bodies); (b) Article 3 (Preparation, Adoption and Application of Technical Regulations by Local Government Bodies and NonGovernmental Bodies); (c) Article 4 (Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards); (d) Article 5 (Procedures for Assessment of Conformity by Central Government Bodies);



(e) Article 6 (Recognition of Conformity Assessment by Central Government Bodies), without limiting a Party's rights or obligations under the Protocol on the Mutual Acceptance of the Results of Conformity Assessment, and the Protocol on the Mutual Recognition of the Compliance and Enforcement Programme Regarding Good Manufacturing Practices for Pharmaceutical Products;

(f) Article 7 (Procedures for Assessment of Conformity by Local Government Bodies); (g) Article 8 (Procedures for Assessment of Conformity by NonGovernmental Bodies); (h) Article 9 (International and Regional Systems); (i) Annex 1 (Terms and their Definitions for the Purpose of this Agreement); and (j) Annex 3 (Code of Good Practice for the Preparation, Adoption and Application of Standards). 2. The term "Members" in the incorporated provisions shall have the same meaning in this Agreement as it has in the TBT Agreement. 3. With respect to Articles 3, 4, 7, 8 and 9 of the TBT Agreement, Chapter TwentyNine (Dispute Settlement) can be invoked in cases where a Party considers that the other Party has not achieved satisfactory results under these Articles and its trade interests are significantly affected. In this respect, such results shall be equivalent to those as if the body in question were a Party.



ARTICLE 4.3 Cooperation

The Parties shall strengthen their cooperation in the areas of technical regulations, standards, metrology, conformity assessment procedures, market surveillance or monitoring and enforcement activities in order to facilitate trade between the Parties, as set out in Chapter TwentyOne (Regulatory Cooperation). This may include promoting and encouraging cooperation between the Parties' respective public or private organisations responsible for metrology, standardisation, testing, certification and accreditation, market surveillance or monitoring and enforcement activities; and, in particular, encouraging their accreditation and conformity assessment bodies to participate in cooperation arrangements that promote the acceptance of conformity assessment results. ARTICLE 4.4 Technical regulations 1. The Parties undertake to cooperate to the extent possible, to ensure that their technical regulations are compatible with one another. To this end, if a Party expresses an interest in developing a technical regulation equivalent or similar in scope to one that exists in or is being prepared by the other Party, that other Party shall, on request, provide to the Party, to the extent practicable, the relevant information, studies and data upon which it has relied in the preparation of its technical regulation, whether adopted or being developed. The Parties recognise that it may be necessary to clarify and agree on the scope of a specific request, and that confidential information may be withheld.

2. A Party that has prepared a technical regulation that it considers to be equivalent to a technical regulation of the other Party having compatible objective and product scope may request that the other Party recognise the technical regulation as equivalent. The Party shall make the request in writing and set out detailed reasons why the technical regulation should be considered equivalent, including reasons with respect to product scope. The Party that does not agree that the technical regulation is equivalent shall provide to the other Party, upon request, the reasons for its decision. ARTICLE 4.5 Conformity assessment The Parties shall observe the Protocol on the mutual acceptance of the results of conformity assessment, and the Protocol on the mutual recognition of the compliance and enforcement programme regarding good manufacturing practices for pharmaceutical products.





ARTICLE 4.6 Transparency 1. Each Party shall ensure that transparency procedures regarding the development of technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures allow interested persons of the Parties to participate at an early appropriate stage when amendments can still be introduced and comments taken into account, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise. Where a consultation process regarding the development of technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures is open to the public, each Party shall permit persons of the other Party to participate on terms no less favourable than those accorded to its own persons. 2. The Parties shall promote closer cooperation between the standardisation bodies located within their respective territories with a view to facilitating, among other things, the exchange of information about their respective activities, as well as the harmonisation of standards based on mutual interest and reciprocity, according to modalities to be agreed by the standardisation bodies concerned. 3. Each Party shall endeavour to allow a period of at least 60 days following its transmission to the WTO Central Registry of Notifications of proposed technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures for the other Party to provide written comments, except where urgent problems of safety, health, environmental protection or national security arise or threaten to arise. A Party shall give positive consideration to a reasonable request to extend the comment period.



4. If a Party receives comments on its proposed technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure from the other Party, it shall reply in writing to those comments before the technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure is adopted. 5. Each Party shall publish or otherwise make publicly available, in print or electronically, its responses or a summary of its responses, to significant comments it receives, no later than the date it publishes the adopted technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure. 6. Each Party shall, upon request of the other Party, provide information regarding the objectives of, legal basis and rationale for, a technical regulation or conformity assessment procedure, that the Party has adopted or is proposing to adopt. 7. A Party shall give positive consideration to a reasonable request from the other Party, received prior to the end of the comment period following the transmission of a proposed technical regulation, to establish or extend the period of time between the adoption of the technical regulation and the day upon which it is applicable, except where the delay would be ineffective in fulfilling the legitimate objectives pursued. 8. Each Party shall ensure that its adopted technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures are publicly available on official websites.

9. If a Party detains at a port of entry a good imported from the territory of the other Party on the grounds that the good has failed to comply with a technical regulation, it shall, without undue delay, notify the importer of the reasons for the detention of the good.



ARTICLE 4.7 Management of the Chapter 1. The Parties shall cooperate on issues covered by this Chapter. The Parties agree that the Committee on Trade in Goods, established under Article 26.2.1(a) shall: (a) manage the implementation of this Chapter; (b) promptly address an issue that a Party raises related to the development, adoption or application of standards, technical regulations or conformity assessment procedures; (c) on a Party's request, facilitate discussion of the assessment of risk or hazard conducted by the other Party; (d) encourage cooperation between the standardisation bodies and conformity assessment bodies of the Parties; (e) exchange information on standards, technical regulations, or conformity assessment procedures including those of third parties or international bodies where there is a mutual interest in doing so;

(f) review this Chapter in the light of developments before the WTO Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade or under the TBT Agreement, and, if necessary, develop recommendations to amend this Chapter for consideration by the CETA Joint Committee;



(g) take other steps that the Parties consider will assist them to implement this Chapter and the TBT Agreement and to facilitate trade between the Parties; and (h) report to the CETA Joint Committee on the implementation of this Chapter, as appropriate. 2. If the Parties are unable to resolve a matter covered under this Chapter through the Committee on Trade in Goods, upon request of a Party, the CETA Joint Committee may establish an ad hoc technical working group to identify solutions to facilitate trade. If a Party does not agree with a request from the other Party to establish a technical working group, it shall, on request, explain the reasons for its decision. The Parties shall lead the technical working group. 3. When a Party has requested information, the other Party shall provide the information, pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter, in print or electronically within a reasonable period of time. The Party shall endeavour to respond to each request for information within 60 days.



CHAPTER FIVE SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES ARTICLE 5.1

Definitions 1. For the purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions apply: (a) the definitions in Annex A of the SPS Agreement; (b) the definitions adopted under the auspices of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (the "Codex"); (c) the definitions adopted under the auspices of the World Organisation for Animal Health (the "OIE"); (d) the definitions adopted under the auspices of the International Plant Protection Convention (the "IPPC"); (e) protected zone for a specified regulated harmful organism means an officially defined geographical area in the European Union in which that organism is not established in spite of favourable conditions for its establishment and its presence in other parts of the European Union; and



(f) a competent authority of a Party means an authority listed in Annex 5A. 2. Further to paragraph 1, the definitions under the SPS Agreement prevail to the extent that there is an inconsistency between the definitions adopted under the auspices of the Codex, the OIE, the IPPC and the definitions under the SPS Agreement.

ARTICLE 5.2 Objectives The objectives of this Chapter are to: (a) protect human, animal and plant life or health while facilitating trade; (b) ensure that the Parties' sanitary and phytosanitary ("SPS") measures do not create unjustified barriers to trade; and (c) further the implementation of the SPS Agreement. ARTICLE 5.3 Scope This Chapter applies to SPS measures that may, directly or indirectly, affect trade between the Parties.





ARTICLE 5.4 Rights and obligations The Parties affirm their rights and obligations under the SPS Agreement. ARTICLE 5.5 Adaptation to regional conditions 1. With respect to an animal, animal product and animal byproduct: (a) the Parties recognise the concept of zoning and they have decided to apply this concept to the diseases listed in Annex 5B; (b) if the Parties decide on principles and guidelines to recognise regional conditions, they shall include them in Annex 5C; (c) for the purpose of subparagraph (a), the importing Party shall base its sanitary measure applicable to the exporting Party whose territory is affected by a disease listed in Annex 5B on the zoning decision made by the exporting Party, provided that the importing Party is satisfied that the exporting Party's zoning decision is in accordance with the principles and guidelines that the Parties set out in Annex 5C, and is based on relevant international standards, guidelines, and recommendations. The importing Party may apply any additional measure to achieve its appropriate level of sanitary protection;





(d) if a Party considers that it has a special status with respect to a disease not listed in Annex 5B, it may request recognition of that status. The importing Party may request additional guarantees for imports of live animals, animal products, and animal byproducts appropriate to the agreed status recognised by the importing Party, including the special conditions identified in Annex 5E; and (e) the Parties recognise the concept of compartmentalisation and agree to cooperate on this matter. 2. With respect to a plant and plant product: (a) when the importing Party establishes or maintains its phytosanitary measure, it shall take into account, among other things, the pest status of an area, such as a pestfree area, pestfree place of production, pestfree production site, an area of low pest prevalence and a protected zone that the exporting Party has established; and (b) if the Parties decide on principles and guidelines to recognise regional conditions, they shall include them in Annex 5C.



ARTICLE 5.6 Equivalence 1. The importing Party shall accept the SPS measure of the exporting Party as equivalent to its own if the exporting Party objectively demonstrates to the importing Party that its measure achieves the importing Party's appropriate level of SPS protection.

2. Annex 5D sets out principles and guidelines to determine, recognise, and maintain equivalence. 3. Annex 5E sets out: (a) the area for which the importing Party recognises that an SPS measure of the exporting Party is equivalent to its own; and (b) the area for which the importing Party recognises that the fulfilment of the specified special condition, combined with the exporting Party's SPS measure, achieves the importing Party's appropriate level of SPS protection. 4. For the purposes of this Chapter, Article 1.7 (Reference to laws) applies subject to this Article, Annex 5-D and the General Notes under Annex 5-E.



ARTICLE 5.7 Trade conditions 1. The importing Party shall make available its general SPS import requirements for all commodities. If the Parties jointly identify a commodity as a priority, the importing Party shall establish specific SPS import requirements for that commodity, unless the Parties decide otherwise. In identifying which commodities are priorities, the Parties shall cooperate to ensure the efficient management of their available resources. The specific import requirements should be applicable to the total territory of the exporting Party. 2. Pursuant to paragraph 1, the importing Party shall undertake, without undue delay, the necessary process to establish specific SPS import requirements for the commodity that is identified as a priority. Once these specific import requirements are established, the importing Party shall take the necessary steps, without undue delay, to allow trade on the basis of these import requirements. 3. For the purpose of establishing the specific SPS import requirements, the exporting Party shall, at the request of the importing Party:

(a) provide all relevant information required by the importing Party; and (b) give reasonable access to the importing Party to inspect, test, audit and perform other relevant procedures.



4. If the importing Party maintains a list of authorised establishments or facilities for the import of a commodity, it shall approve an establishment or facility situated in the territory of the exporting Party without prior inspection of that establishment or facility if: (a) the exporting Party has requested such an approval for the establishment or facility, accompanied by the appropriate guarantees; and (b) the conditions and procedures set out in Annex 5F are fulfilled. 5. Further to paragraph 4, the importing Party shall make its lists of authorised establishments or facilities publicly available. 6. A Party shall normally accept a consignment of a regulated commodity without preclearance of the commodity on a consignment basis, unless the Parties decide otherwise. 7. The importing Party may require that the relevant competent authority of the exporting Party objectively demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the importing Party, that the import requirements may be fulfilled or are fulfilled. 8. The Parties should follow the procedure set out in Annex 5G on the specific import requirements for plant health.





ARTICLE 5.8 Audit and verification 1. For the purpose of maintaining confidence in the implementation of this Chapter, a Party may carry out an audit or verification, or both, of all or part of the control programme of the competent authority of the other Party. The Party shall bear its own costs associated with the audit or verification. 2. If the Parties decide on principles and guidelines to conduct an audit or verification, they shall include them in Annex 5H. If a Party conducts an audit or verification, it shall do so in accordance with any principles and guidelines in Annex 5H. ARTICLE 5.9 Export certification 1. When an official health certificate is required to import a consignment of live animals or animal products, and if the importing Party has accepted the SPS measure of the exporting Party as equivalent to its own with respect to such animals or animal products, the Parties shall use the model health attestation prescribed in Annex 5I for such certificate, unless the Parties decide otherwise. The Parties may also use a model attestation for other products if they so decide.



2. Annex 5I sets out principles and guidelines for export certification, including electronic certification, withdrawal or replacement of certificates, language regimes and model attestations.

ARTICLE 5.10 Import checks and fees 1. Annex 5J sets out principles and guidelines for import checks and fees, including the frequency rate for import checks. 2. If import checks reveal noncompliance with the relevant import requirements, the action taken by the importing Party must be based on an assessment of the risk involved and not be more traderestrictive than required to achieve the Party's appropriate level of sanitary or phytosanitary protection. 3. Whenever possible, the importing Party shall notify the importer of a noncompliant consignment, or its representative, of the reason for noncompliance, and provide them with an opportunity for a review of the decision. The importing Party shall consider any relevant information submitted to assist in the review. 4. A Party may collect fees for the costs incurred to conduct frontier checks, which should not exceed the recovery of the costs.



ARTICLE 5.11 Notification and information exchange 1. A Party shall notify the other Party without undue delay of a:

(a) significant change to pest or disease status, such as the presence and evolution of a disease listed in Annex 5B; (b) finding of epidemiological importance with respect to an animal disease, which is not listed in Annex 5B, or which is a new disease; and (c) significant food safety issue related to a product traded between the Parties. 2. The Parties endeavour to exchange information on other relevant issues including: (a) a change to a Party's SPS measure; (b) any significant change to the structure or organisation of a Party's competent authority; (c) on request, the results of a Party's official control and a report that concerns the results of the control carried out; (d) the results of an import check provided for in Article 5.10 in case of a rejected or a noncompliant consignment; and



(e) on request, a risk analysis or scientific opinion that a Party has produced and that is relevant to this Chapter.

3. Unless the Joint Management Committee decides otherwise, when the information referred to in paragraph 1 or 2 has been made available via notification to the WTO's Central Registry of Notifications or to the relevant international standardsetting body, in accordance with its relevant rules, the requirements in paragraphs 1 and 2, as they apply to that information, are fulfilled. ARTICLE 5.12 Technical consultations If a Party has a significant concern with respect to food safety, plant health, or animal health, or an SPS measure that the other Party has proposed or implemented, that Party may request technical consultations with the other Party. The Party that is the subject of the request should respond to the request without undue delay. Each Party shall endeavour to provide the information necessary to avoid a disruption to trade and, as the case may be, to reach a mutually acceptable solution.



ARTICLE 5.13 Emergency SPS measures 1. A Party shall notify the other Party of an emergency SPS measure within 24 hours of its decision to implement the measure. If a Party requests technical consultations to address the emergency SPS measure, the technical consultations must be held within 10 days of the notification of the emergency SPS measure. The Parties shall consider any information provided through the technical consultations. 2. The importing Party shall consider the information that was provided in a timely manner by the exporting Party when it makes its decision with respect to a consignment that, at the time of adoption of the emergency SPS measure, is being transported between the Parties.

ARTICLE 5.14 Joint Management Committee for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures 1. The Joint Management Committee for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the "Joint Management Committee"), established under Article 26.2.1(d), comprises regulatory and trade representatives of each Party responsible for SPS measures.



2. The functions of the Joint Management Committee include: (a) to monitor the implementation of this Chapter, to consider any matter related to this Chapter and to examine all matters which may arise in relation to its implementation; (b) to provide direction for the identification, prioritisation, management and resolution of issues; (c) to address any request by a Party to modify an import check; (d) at least once a year, to review the annexes to this Chapter, notably in the light of progress made under the consultations provided for under this Agreement. Following its review, the Joint Management Committee may decide to amend the annexes to this Chapter. The Parties may approve the Joint Management Committee's decision, in accordance with their respective procedures necessary for the entry into force of the amendment. The decision enters into force on a date agreed by the Parties; (e) to monitor the implementation of a decision referred to in subparagraph (d), above, as well as the operation of measures referred to under subparagraph (d) above; (f) to provide a regular forum to exchange information that relates to each Party's regulatory system, including the scientific and risk assessment basis for an SPS measure; and

(g) to prepare and maintain a document that details the state of discussions between the Parties on their work on recognition of the equivalence of specific SPS measures.



3. The Joint Management Committee may, among other things: (a) identify opportunities for greater bilateral engagement, including enhanced relationships, which may include an exchange of officials; (b) discuss at an early stage, a change to, or a proposed change to, an SPS measure being considered; (c) facilitate improved understanding between the Parties on the implementation of the SPS Agreement, and promote cooperation between the Parties on SPS issues under discussion in multilateral fora, including the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and international standardsetting bodies, as appropriate; or (d) identify and discuss, at an early stage, initiatives that have an SPS component, and that would benefit from cooperation. 4. The Joint Management Committee may establish working groups comprising expertlevel representatives of the Parties, to address specific SPS issues. 5. A Party may refer any SPS issue to the Joint Management Committee. The Joint Management Committee should consider the issue as expeditiously as possible. 6. If the Joint Management Committee is unable to resolve an issue expeditiously, it shall, at the request of a Party, report promptly to the CETA Joint Committee.





7. Unless the Parties decide otherwise, the Joint Management Committee shall meet and establish its work programme no later than 180 days following the entry into force of this Agreement, and its rules of procedure no later than one year after the entry into force of this Agreement. 8. Following its initial meeting, the Joint Management Committee shall meet as required, normally on an annual basis. The Joint Management Committee may decide to meet by videoconference or teleconference, and it may also address issues out of session by correspondence. 9. The Joint Management Committee shall report annually on its activities and work programme to the CETA Joint Committee. 10. Upon entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall designate and inform the other Party, in writing, of a contact point to coordinate the Joint Management Committee's agenda and to facilitate communication on SPS matters.



CHAPTER SIX CUSTOMS AND TRADE FACILITATION ARTICLE 6.1 Objectives and principles

1. The Parties acknowledge the importance of customs and trade facilitation matters in the evolving global trading environment. 2. The Parties shall, to the extent possible, cooperate and exchange information, including information on best practices, to promote the application of and compliance with the trade facilitation measures in this Agreement. 3. Measures to facilitate trade shall not hinder mechanisms to protect a person through effective enforcement of and compliance with a Party's law. 4. Import, export and transit requirements and procedures shall be no more administratively burdensome or trade restrictive than necessary to achieve a legitimate objective.



5. Existing international trade and customs instruments and standards shall be the basis for import, export and transit requirements and procedures, except if these instruments and standards would be an inappropriate or ineffective means for the fulfilment of the legitimate objective pursued. ARTICLE 6.2 Transparency 1. Each Party shall publish or otherwise make available, including through electronic means, its legislation, regulations, judicial decisions and administrative policies relating to requirements for the import or export of goods. 2. Each Party shall endeavour to make public, including on the internet, proposed regulations and administrative policies relating to customs matters and to provide interested persons an opportunity to comment prior to their adoption.

3. Each Party shall designate or maintain one or more contact points to address inquiries by interested persons concerning customs matters and make available on the internet information concerning the procedures for making such inquiries.



ARTICLE 6.3 Release of goods 1. Each Party shall adopt or maintain simplified customs procedures for the efficient release of goods in order to facilitate trade between the Parties and reduce costs for importers and exporters. 2. Each Party shall ensure that these simplified procedures: (a) allow for the release of goods within a period of time no longer than that required to ensure compliance with its law; (b) allow goods, and to the extent possible controlled or regulated goods, to be released at the first point of arrival; (c) endeavour to allow for the expeditious release of goods in need of emergency clearance; (d) allow an importer or its agent to remove goods from customs' control prior to the final determination and payment of customs duties, taxes, and fees. Before releasing the goods, a Party may require that an importer provide sufficient guarantee in the form of a surety, a deposit, or some other appropriate instrument; and

(e) provide for, in accordance with its law, simplified documentation requirements for the entry of lowvalue goods as determined by each Party.



3. Each Party, in its simplified procedures, may require the submission of more extensive information through postentry accounting and verifications, as appropriate. 4. Each Party shall allow for the expedited release of goods and, to the extent possible and if applicable, shall: (a) provide for advance electronic submission and processing of information before physical arrival of goods to enable their release upon arrival, if no risk has been identified or if no random checks are to be performed; and (b) provide for clearance of certain goods with a minimum of documentation. 5. Each Party shall, to the extent possible, ensure that its authorities and agencies involved in border and other import and export controls cooperate and coordinate to facilitate trade by, among other things, converging import and export data and documentation requirements and establishing a single location for onetime documentary and physical verification of consignments. 6. Each Party shall ensure, to the extent possible, that its import and export requirements for goods are coordinated to facilitate trade, regardless of whether these requirements are administered by an agency or on behalf of that agency by the customs administration.



ARTICLE 6.4 Customs valuation

1. The Customs Valuation Agreement governs c