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Current Consultations
Consultations on Services Trade Negotiations
Online Questionnaire for Canadian Businesses
Transportation Services
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Background Information:
Transportation services include maritime, air, rail, road,
auxiliary services and rental and leasing services of transportation
equipment without operators.
Commercial transportation refers to those service industries
that move passengers and goods for a fee, such as airlines,
railways and trucking firms.
Commercial transportation industries in Canada accounted for
$39 billion in 2002, or 4% of the value-added GDP. Trucking
is the most important industry, accounting for $11.9 billion,
or 1.2 % of the total output. The air and rail transportation
industries accounted for $4.3 billion (0.4 % of total output)
and $4.7 billion (0.5 %), respectively
In 2002, total employment in Canada rose by 2.2 % with the
creation of 335,000 jobs. Over the last five years, the number
of full-time jobs related to transportation totaled more than
800,000. Preliminary figures for 2002 do not allow for the assessment
of the total employment in the transport sector. The air transport
industry was severely affected by the economic slowdown and
the terrorist attacks, and showed no signs of recovery in 2002;
air transport-related employment decreased by 7.2 %. No conclusion
could be drawn from the available data for the other transportation
sectors.
In 2002, the United States was by far Canada's most important
trading partner, capturing 76 % (in value) of Canada's total
trade with the world (70 % in 1991). Trucks carried almost 66
% of this trade ($1.5 billion on a daily basis), followed by
rail (17 %), pipeline, air and marine. Trucking was the dominant
mode for exports (57 %) and for imports (80 %). By volume, pipelines
ranked first, at 32 % (mainly in exports), followed by trucks
(29 %) and marine (20 %).
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Deescription of Sector in the GATS
The classification system that is used in the GATS by most
WTO members divides Transport Services into the following nine
categories:
- Maritime Transport Services
- Internal Waterways Transport
- Air Transport Services
- Space Transport
- Rail Transport Services
- Road Transport Services
- Pipeline Transport
- Services auxiliary to all modes of transport
- Other Transport Services
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What Canada heard in previous consultations
Priority Markets:
While the first priority market for all modes of transport
remains the United States, interest has been expressed by stakeholders
that Canada target specific countries or groupings of countries,
which either maintain limitations or have not made commitments.
Specific countries that were identified include the following:
Australia, Brazil, China, European Union, Hong Kong, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, North
Africa (Algeria and Morocco), Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Russian
Federation, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela
and Viet Nam.
Market Access Barriers:
Typical trade barriers raised in previous consultations include:
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Measures that impose limitations on the number of service
suppliers (quotas, monopolies, economic needs tests);
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Measures that impose limitations on the operations of service
suppliers (quotas, monopolies, economic needs tests);
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Lack of transparency regarding rules/regulations;
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Limitations on investment and/or right of establishment;
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Unfair licensing requirements;
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Government procurement restrictions;
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Restrictions on entry and stay of managers, professionals
and experts;
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Citizenship or residency requirements;
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Security measures, cargo reservation, cabotage restrictions
and lack of uniformity in applying anti trust exemptions for
ocean carriers.
Go directly to the Questionnaire.
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