Ukraine and Canada signed a Free Trade Agreement

First Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv and International Trade Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland have signed a Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine.

Signing of the Agreement has been held on Monday in Kyiv in the presence of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, since 2009 the Governments of Canada and Ukraine have been negotiating to liberalize bilateral trade, and last year the negotiating team of the Government of Ukraine headed by Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade,Trade Representative of Ukraine Nataliya Mykolska managed to get things done. After six rounds of talks on July 14, 2015 negotiations were completed and the text of the Agreement was initialed. After signing for the entry into force the Agreement also requires ratification by the parliaments of both countries.

"The Agreement with Canada is the first agreement with a country of the North American region, covering the market of this magnitude," pointed out First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine Stepan Kubiv, "Agreement with Canada is an additional factor to include Ukraine in the global chain of goods production with added value in the context of the conclusion of the future FTA between Canada and the EU. "

The main content of the Agreement includes provisions concerning trade in goods, rules of origin, trade facilitation, labour, technical barriers to trade, government procurement, intellectual property, dispute settlement, environment, sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

The Agreement will diversify trade flows from Ukraine and attract Canadian investment in Ukraine. As Canada opens its market for Ukrainian goods at 99%, Ukrainian business can take advantage of duty-free access to the new market. According to the Agreement, Ukrainian entrepreneurs receive support in entering the Canadian market, including through project CUTIS (Canada - Ukraine Trade and Investment Support project).