An EU/Canada summit is planned for September to mark the end of free trade negotiations according to the NFU’s latest Brussels in Brief report.
With the negotiators now having finished their work and reached agreement on the final text, the next stage is for the results of their work to be translated, subjected to legal review and then circulated to member states. The union says this process is “likely to take us through to mid-2016 at the earliest” before the agreement comes into force.
“Canada is a very valuable export market for EU agricultural and processed agricultural products, with annual sales of over €2.9 billion,” it is reported in Brussels in Brief. “The agreement will rapidly eliminate duties on agricultural goods. By the end of a seven year transitional period, Canada and the EU will liberalise 92.8% and 93.6% of their respective tariff lines in agriculture, meaning there will be duty free access for a range of agricultural products such as for each other’s pulses, grains and fruit markets.
“Sensitive products are dairy for Canada and beef, pork and sweetcorn for the EU. The Canadians will be able to export 50,000 tonnes of beef and veal to the EU market duty free, 70% of which is reserved for fresh or chilled meat and the remaining as frozen product. They will also have duty free access for just over 81,000 tonnes of pork. Poultry, turkey, eggs and egg products were excluded from the negotiations.
“On dairy, the EU will access an additional quota of 18,300 tonnes which could see EU export of cheese to Canada double. The Canada agreement is seen by many as the template for US negotiations.”