Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement Negotiations
On June 15, 2010, the Honourable Peter Van Loan, former Minister of International Trade, announced that Canada and Ukraine launched negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) in mid-May of that year (see News Release: Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Negotiations Underway).
Five rounds of negotiations have been held to date. The first and second rounds of negotiations took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, in May 2010 and May 2011 (see News Release: Canada Concludes Second Round of Free Trade Negotiations with Ukraine). A third round of negotiations was held in November 2011 in Ottawa and a fourth round in April 2012 in Kyiv. The fifth round was held during the week of September 24, 2012 in Kyiv.
An FTA with Ukraine has the potential to provide increased access for Canadian goods and services to the Ukrainian market, to help address non-tariff barriers, and to help advance other trade and investment issues to facilitate economic relations. An FTA that provides Ukraine with better access to the Canadian market would also be consistent with Canada’s foreign policy objectives for Ukraine, which support Ukraine’s democratic transformation and economic reforms.
For more information on these negotiations, please see additional background information.
Consultations
On October 31, 2009, the Government of Canada announced public consultations to seek the views of Canadians on the scope of a possible FTA between Canada and Ukraine. Through the consultation process, the Government obtained the advice and views of businesses, citizen-based organizations and individual Canadians. The consultations revealed broad-based support for a Canada-Ukraine FTA.
Canada is currently conducting an Environmental Assessment (EA) to inform the FTA negotiations. The EA will incorporate comments from the public and will consider any likely and significant environmental impacts that a Canada-Ukraine FTA may have on Canada.
All contributions to the consultative process will be taken into account as the Canada-Ukraine initiative proceeds and in the development of Canada's trade agenda more broadly. The government will continue to seek stakeholders’ views through the Foreign Affairs and International Trade website to ensure that their interests and concerns are taken into account during the negotiations.
Related Links
- Ukraine Fact Sheet
- Embassy of Canada to Ukraine
- Canadian International Development Agency
- Canadian Trade Commissioner Services in Ukraine
- Export Development Canada Country overview
- Global Commerce Strategy
Contact Point
If you have questions or comments about this initiative we would like to hear from you. Please contact Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada at:
Trade Negotiations I Division (TPE)
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2.
Fax: 613-944-3489
Email: consultations@international.gc.ca
