Stakeholder Debrief Report – 14^th ASEAN-Canada Free Trade Agreement Trade Negotiating Committee meeting

July 7-11, 2025 (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)

Malaysia hosted the 14^th Trade Negotiating Committee (TNC) and Related Meetings of the ASEAN - Canada Free Trade Agreement (ACAFTA) negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 7^{th –} 11^th 2025.

The following nine negotiating tables met alongside the TNC: Cross-Border Trade in Services, Temporary Movement of Natural Persons, Investment, Rules of Origin, Technical Barriers to Trade, Good Regulatory Practices, Legal and Institutional Issues, Financial Services, and Trade in Goods.

The 14^th ACAFTA TNC 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 World Trade Organization Negotiations, Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia.

Reports from the following 15 Subsidiary Bodies (SBs) were presented to the TNC:

1. Competition
2. Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation
3. Economic and Technical Cooperation  
4. Financial Services
5. Good Regulatory Practices
6. Government Procurement
7. Investment
8. Legal and Institutional
9. Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises
10. Rules of Origin
11. Technical Barriers to Trade
12. Telecommunications
13. Trade in Services
14. Trade in Goods
15. Trade and Sustainable Development

Key takeaways from the 14^th TNC

• Canada and ASEAN committed to concluding ACAFTA negotiations as soon as possible.
• The TNC clarified the objectives to be achieved by September and reported at the annual ASEAN Economic Ministers’ meeting.
• ASEAN provided an update on the use of the ASEAN-Canada Plan of Action Trust Fund to support the participation of Least Developed Country members of ASEAN in all negotiating rounds.
• The TNC noted measurable progress made at this round across all Subsidiary Bodies.
• Canada hosted a stakeholder engagement event on the margins of the 14^th TNC, which included opening remarks from Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Anita Anand.
• The 15th ACAFTA TNC Meeting will take place in Bangkok, Thailand (with some groups meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia) from September 1-5, 2025.

Key developments from the Subsidiary Bodies

The 14^th TNC marked the conclusion of the Administrative and Initial Provisions chapter led by the Legal and Institutional Issues Subsidiary Body. Several other Subsidiary Bodies such as Economic and Technical Cooperation, MSMEs, Telecommunications, and Competition are working toward concluding over the next two TNC meetings (September and November).

Additional work at the Trade in Goods and Rules of Origin Subsidiary Bodies remains; negotiators have committed to a series of intersessional meetings to address outstanding issues. The Good Regulatory Practices and Customs Procedures and Trade Facilitation negotiating tables held fruitful conversations allowing leads to make significant progress with the aim to conclude negotiations in the coming months.

The Working Group on Investment made moderate progress in agreeing to one important article and bridging a few other outstanding differences, although significant work remains. Discussions at the Cross-Border Trade in Services and Temporary Entry of Natural Persons negotiating tables were positive, allowing for substantial discussion on key areas and bilateral engagement with almost all ASEAN Member States. With an agreement to negotiate on the basis of a standalone chapter, the Financial Services working group has made great headway closing several articles.

The Government Procurement Working Group reported good progress on the text and reiterated the importance of ASEAN appointing a new co-chair to meet their shared objective of finalizing the text soon. The Working Group on Intellectual Property continued to make great progress with their negotiations with several articles closed. Canada remains focused on closing articles relating to key economic and innovation priorities.

The Working Group on Trade and Sustainable Development reported that while negotiation sessions were constructive in some areas, a significant gap remains between respective positions on labour and environment regarding the scope and level of obligations, as well as on enforceability.