Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement - CCFTA

Act: Canada-Chile Free Trade Implementation Act, 1997, c. 14
Regulation: Not applicable.

To Whom Does This Apply?

Persons interested in trading with Chile.

Summary

The Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) was signed on December 5, 1996 in Santiago and entered into force on July 5, 1997. On that date, tariffs on 75 percent of bilateral trade were immediately eliminated. The schedule to phase out other tariffs was completed on January 1, 2003, with the exception of a few sensitive products with longer phase-out periods. The CCFTA established a substantially-improved bilateral commercial framework covering trade in goods and services, investment and dispute settlement, as well as significant commitments in the area of trade remedies (a mutual exemption from the application of anti-dumping measures).

The agreement also exempts cultural industries and supply-managed products, and fully protects social and health services.

The results of the CCFTA are positive. Total two-way trade in goods, based on both Canadian and Chilean import statistics, reached $1.3 billion in 2003, a 40 percent increase over 1997.

Separate cooperation agreements on labour and the environment entered into force in parallel to the CCFTA. On the labour side, cooperative activities since 1997 have helped government officials, labour experts, unions and business representatives to identify fields of common interest, exchange information and build networks between Canada and Chile. Regarding the environment, an outstanding example of cooperation is the Trade and Environment Round Table, which is a mechanism to foster policy dialogue between the two countries on the linkages between trade and environment.

The CCFTA is also available on the Web site of International Trade Canada on the Regional and Bilaterial Iniviatives page.

The Canada-Chile Agreement on Environmental Cooperation is available on Environment Canada's Web site.

The full text of the Canada-Chile Agreement on Labour Cooperation is available on Social Development Canada's Web.

See also the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement - Agriculture on the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Web site.

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

Quebec Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Trade Policy Planning Division
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0G2
Telephone: (613) 944-2720
Fax: (613) 944-0757
Toll-free (information): 1-800-267-8376 (in Canada)
TTY (hearing impaired): 613-944-9136
E-mail: consultations@dfait-maeci.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.international.gc.ca/menu-en.asp