On March 19, Hon. Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade announced that Canada is ratifying the Canada-United Kingdom (U.K.) Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA). CCA recognizes the importance of avoiding trade interruptions and the need for a transitional agreement—however we are disappointed that the Canada-U.K. TCA is largely a replica of the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) with some gains being made in how Canada’s quota into the U.K. is administered. The U.K. will have full duty access to Canada. Canadian beef total access of hormone free beef is 3,279 tonnes in 2021 and 3,869 tonnes cwe in 2022. CCA has consistently communicated concerns with trade obstacles being carried over from CETA.
On March 12, 2021, the Government of Canada launched a public consultation on a full Canada-U.K. trade agreement. Moving forward, CCA’s priorities are to ensure trade balance and reciprocal access to U.K.’s market through the permanent agreement. CCA will submit comments outlining our significant concerns and continue to engage with the Government of Canada to help define Canada’s trade priorities in future negotiations with the U.K.
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