Regional and Bilateral Initiatives

Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement

International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew announced on December 18, 2001 that legislation to implement the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (CCRFTA) had received Royal Assent.(See the December 2001 News Release.) The Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act was tabled in the House of Commons on September 20, 2001. (See the September 2001 News Release.)

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced on April 23, 2001 the conclusion of the CCRFTA, after nine months of negotiations. The Agreement was signed by International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew and his Costa Rican counterpart Tomás Duenas. (See the News Release and the Backgrounder of April 2001.)

Two parallel accords on environmental and labour cooperation were also signed on this occasion.

The free trade agreement and the two parallel accords entered into force on November 1, 2002 (see press release).

For more information, please see:

• Text of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement
  • Schedule of Canada (pdf format)
  • Schedule of Costa Rica (in Spanish) (pdf format)
• Text of the Canada-Costa Rica Agreement on Environmental Cooperation
• Text of the Canada-Costa Rica Agreement on Labour Cooperation
• Text of the Bill C-32

And:

• Background on the Negotiations
• Highlights of the Agreement
• Backgrounder - Summary of the Agreement, including Parallel Accords
• Fact Sheet on Canada-Costa Rica Trade and Investment
• Contact Points
• Other Interesting Links