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Monday January 28, 2013 |
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The European Commission has posted a public update
on the status of the agricultural provisions in the proposed Canada -
EU Trade Agreement. The EC says the goal is to conclude the agreement at
a Ministerial meeting in Ottawa on February 7th, though reports suggest
that may be overly optimistic. The state of the agricultural
provisions is described as follows:agriculture, ceta, geographical indications Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday January 28, 2013 |
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Tuesday January 22, 2013 |
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The European Commission hosted an information session
for non-governmental groups on Europe's current trade negotiations. The
Canada - EU Trade Agreement was the first discussed. Both Ends, a Dutch
NGO, reports
that European officials indicated that they are still unhappy with the
Canadian position on copyright and patents. While the disagreement of
patents for pharmaceuticals is well known, Canadian officials had
indicated that the copyright provisions were completed.ceta, copyright, ip, patent Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareTuesday January 22, 2013 |
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Monday November 26, 2012 |
As International Trade Minister Ed Fast returns from negotiations in Europe that failed to secure a deal on the Canada - EU Trade Agreement, newly leaked documents to the CAQ and posted by LaPresse
provide a detailed look at the remaining outstanding issues with
details on the Canadian and European positions. The documents (1, 2, 3, 4)
make it clear that the EU recognizes the deal is unbalanced as there
are far more demands for Canadian changes than European ones. The EU
retains the hope that Canada will cave on the EU demands since "the EU
market to which it gains preferential access is much larger than its
own."
This ranks as perhaps the most important CETA leak to date, since it
clearly identifies the key remaining issues, the European demands, and
the massive changes that would be required for Canada to comply with the
treaty. Some of the changes demanded by Europe include patent reform
that could add billions to Canadian health care costs, the removal of
foreign ownership restrictions on telecommunications and book
publishing, the opening of public procurement for the energy and public
transport sectors, eliminating Investment Canada Act review for European
investments, new restrictions on the sale of a myriad of products such
as feta and parmesan cheese, changes to agricultural protections (ie.
supply management), and the adoption of European standards on passenger
cars. This would require dramatic changes across the Canadian economy,
all for what even the Europeans acknowledge are limited gains for
Canada.Given what is at stake, there needs to be an open debate and
consultation before an agreement is reached (which is no longer a
certainty) and Canada should be considering whether a scaled down
version of CETA - one that focuses primarily on a reduction of tariffs
for trade in goods - is a better model. A closer look at the some of the
remaining issues is posted below.
canada - eu trade agreement, ceta, ip, patents, pharma Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday November 26, 2012 |
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Friday November 23, 2012 |
Canada's International Trade Minister Ed Fast traveled to Brussels
this week hoping to secure a deal on the Canada - EU Trade
Agreement. It looks like he'll be coming home empty handed as
the EU has issued a release
indicating that there are still gaps on key issues. The EU's take on
the talks:
Commissioner De Gucht and Minister Fast had in-depth discussions
on the trade deal and made substantial progress. Both sides will
now instruct their negotiators to narrow the gaps on the
outstanding issues, aiming for a deal in the coming weeks. "I am
pleased that our meeting at a political level has provided the
momentum needed to spur on the negotiations into the home strait.
It's clear that there has been significant progress but some
important work remains to be done", stated Commissioner De Gucht.

Both Commissioner De Gucht and Minister Fast decided to meet
again very shortly and to continue discussions until an agreement
is reached.
That is a far cry from a done deal with more "work to be done" and
the agreement going back to the negotiators for more talks.
canada - eu trade agreement, ceta, degucht, ed fast Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday November 23, 2012 |
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