Canadian Senate approves updated free trade agreement with Ukraine
20 March 2024 10:00
The Senate of Canada has approved the updated free trade agreement with Ukraine in the final reading. This is stated on the Senate of Canada ‘s X page, Komersant ukrainskyi reports 
The agreement was signed on 22 September 2023 during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Ottawa.
According to the Senate website, the agreement passed its first reading in the House of Commons on 17 October. In February this year, the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament supported the agreement by a majority vote and sent it to the Senate for approval. And today the agreement passed the final reading.
The agreement is yet to be ratified by Ukraine.
What is known about the updated free trade agreement with Ukraine
The Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and Canada was signed back in 2017 and allowed the countries to eliminate or reduce duties on most goods.
Last September, during a visit to Ottawa, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau signed an updated agreement that now covers not only trade in goods but also services, investment and telecommunications.
The signed agreement contains a modern section on digital trade between Ukraine and Canada, based on the principles of free and open development of the digital ecosystem of the economy. In particular, the digital component of the agreement guarantees freedom of cross-border transfer of information, freedom to choose the location of equipment, freedom of source code, and open access to the Internet.
The new agreement also contains updated chapters on rules and procedures of origin, competition policy, monopolies and state-owned enterprises, public procurement, environment, labour, measure development and administration and transparency, anti-corruption and responsible business behaviour.
In addition, it regulates financial services, temporary entry for business persons, telecommunications, trade and gender, trade and small and medium-sized enterprises.
The agreement should also be a step towards active preparation for the future economic development of de-occupied Crimea and the role of Crimean Tatars in it. The agreement refers to strengthening the role of indigenous peoples in the economy and international trade.
