Stakeholder debrief report – 10^th ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement Trade Negotiating Committee meeting

November 28-29, 2024 (Jakarta, Indonesia)

General overview

The 10^th Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) meeting for the ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement (ACAFTA) negotiations took place in-person in Jakarta, Indonesia from November 28-29, 2024.

The 10^th TNC Meeting was co-led by Canada’s Chief Negotiator (CN) and TNC Co-Chair, Mary-Catherine Speirs, Director General, Trade Negotiations Bureau (Global Affairs Canada) and ASEAN’s TNC Co-Chair, Dina Kurniasari, Director of ASEAN Negotiations, Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia.

Reports from the following 13 Subsidiary Bodies were presented to the TNC:

1. Competition
2. Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation
3. E-Commerce
4. Financial Services
5. Good Regulatory Practices
6. Intellectual Property
7. Investment
8. Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
9. Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures/Technical Barriers to Trade
10. Telecommunications
11. Trade and Sustainable Development
12. Trade in Goods
13. Trade in Services

Key takeaways from the 10^th TNC

• The TNC took note of the recent commitment by Ministers (at the ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM)-Canada Consultations in September 2024) and Leaders at the ASEAN Special Summit in October 2024) to the goal of substantive conclusion of the negotiations in 2025.
• In addition to receiving reports from 13 Subsidiary Bodies, the TNC discussed issues that were affecting progress in the following areas: Origin Procedures, Trade Remedies, and Government Procurement.
• The TNC agreed to develop a new monitoring mechanism to better track progress at all negotiating tables.

Key developments from the Subsidiary Bodies

On Trade in Goods, more work is needed before market access negotiations can begin; efforts are underway to complete the exchange of data, which will enable discussions on modalities for tariff negotiations. The Rules of Origin table continues to discuss text and product-specific rules of origin. Progress continues to be made to narrow gaps in other areas including on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade (referred to as Standards, Technical Regulations and Conformity Assessment Procedures). Negotiations on the Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation chapter are most advanced with more than half of the text closed. The Good Regulatory Practices table held a productive second meeting.

Negotiations within the Trade in Services, Investment and Financial Services Subsidiary Bodies are moving at a deliberate pace, in part due to intersecting issues related to scope and architecture. Steady progress has been made by the Telecommunications table, while more frequent meetings will be needed to advance negotiations on Electronic Commerce.

The Intellectual Property table made progress at in-person meetings in October, closing a number of articles and paragraphs, and plans to meet regularly in 2025 to leverage this momentum. Progress was also reported by the Competition table.

The Trade and Sustainable Development working group held its first meeting in-person in September and is preparing for a second meeting in February. The goal is to complete an exchange of text proposals before the February meetings.

Contact us

If you would like to comment on any of Global Affairs Canada's trade, investment or innovation programs, policies or services, please contact us at:

Trade Negotiations Division (TCD)
Global Affairs Canada
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Fax: 613-944-0757
Email: consultations@international.gc.ca