Free trade agreement with Ukraine passes another stage of ratification in Canada

A Canadian Senate committee has approved a bill on the ratification of the updated Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine.

According to an Ukrinform correspondent, members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade approved the bill without any amendments.

The bill will now be returned for final approval by the Senate that begins its next plenary week on March 19. Since the bill had already passed a three-stage path at the House of Commons, after its final approval by the Senate, it will only have to be signed by the Governor General in order to enter into force.

The original Free Trade Agreement between Canada and Ukraine came into effect on August 1, 2017 and allowed for the mutual cancellation or reduction of import duties on most goods. In September 2023, during a visit to Ottawa, President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed an updated agreement, which now also covers trade in services, not only goods, investments, telecommunications and other promising areas.

The trade between Canada and Ukraine in 2021 reached a record level of almost $350 million. In 2022, there was a slight reduction in bilateral trade due to factors mainly related to the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ukraine and Canada earlier signed a security agreement that provides for the allocation by Canada of more than 3 billion Canadian dollars in macro-financial and security assistance to Ukraine in 2024.

Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine