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On April 10, 2015, the Hon. Rob Nicholson, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Heraldo Muñoz, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced the conclusion of negotiations to modernize the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA). The announcement took place on the margins of the Seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama City. The modernized agreement contains a new chapter on sanitary and phytosanitary measures that will strengthen bilateral cooperation and collaboration on SPS-related issues and formalize the existing CCFTA SPS Committee, established in 2001. It will also establish a new bilateral commitment to facilitate early and effective dialogue to resolve SPS-related issues affecting bilateral trade and help ensure that market access benefits under the CCFTA are not undermined by unjustified barriers to trade. Updates to the government procurement chapter aim to enhance administrative efficiency by allowing Canadian and Chilean procuring entities greater flexibility in setting tendering periods in cases where electronic tendering is used. In addition, both countries agreed to bring amendments to CCFTA rules of origin into force as soon as possible. Amendments to CCFTA rules of origin will liberalize certain rules of origin, resulting in enhanced market access for Canadian goods such as chemical products and plastics, base metals, machinery and appliances. |
