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Much has been said during the last week about the Global Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union, so I would not like to pass up the opportunity to refer to the subject, although this agreement like any other has: "people who stand up for" as well as "opponents", anyways I would like to invite you to review the most relevant benefits of the current negotiations.
CETA has been presented as a program that will "increase job creation, will strengthen economic relations and boost Canada's trade with the world's second largest market, I meant the European Union."
It is basically a progressive free trade agreement covering virtually all sectors and aspects of trade between Canada and the EU with the ultimate aim of eliminating or reducing trade barriers.
When CETA comes into force, Canada will be one of the few countries in the world that will have guaranteed preferential access to the two largest economies in the world, the United States and the EU.
The Global Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union gives a great advantage to its competitors. From the tariff elimination of goods, to better access to government services and procurement.
CETA was conceived as a project that seeks to boost its international expansion and aims to be the initial point in the future for other markets beyond the EU.
This agreement will increase profitability as Canadian producers, manufacturers and exporters will be able to export to the EU as never before in historical terms as it will allow Canadians to expand or create new markets for their goods within the EU community.
A very relevant point relates to customs and trade facilitation, CETA aims to reduce processing times at the border and make the movement of goods less costly, faster, more predictable and efficient.
Considering that the EU is the largest importer of services in the world, this is an important factor, since only in 2015 the EU import 936 billion dollars in services and 16.5 billion dollars of them came from Architectural, Engineering and other Technical Services from Canada.
Regarding the creation of economic opportunities for Alberta.
Alberta will benefit considerably from preferential access to the EU market, as the EU is already "Alberta's fourth export destination and the third largest trading partner".
Once in place, CETA will eliminate tariffs on almost all Alberta exports and give access to new market opportunities in the European Union. Providing Alberta exporters with a competitive advantage over exporters from other countries that do not have a free trade agreement with the EU.
On day one of CETA's entry into force, 98 percent of EU tariff lines on Canadian products will be duty free, including Alberta's major exports such as metals and mineral products, manufactured goods, chemicals And plastics.
Another 1 percent will be eliminated in a seven year period. Once all progressive eliminations have been completed, 99 percent of the EU tariff lines for Canadian products will be duty free.
For agricultural and food products, almost 94 percent of EU tariff lines on Canadian products will be duty free once the CETA comes into force. This will increase to 95% once all withdrawals have been completed, seven years after entry into force.
This duty-free access will give Canadian agricultural products, such as: Canadian beef, pork and bison, preferential access to the EU market.
For their part, service providers will have preferential access and greater transparency in the EU services market, which will allow better, safer and more predictable access to markets in areas of interest to Alberta such as: professional services, environmental, scientific services - technical consulting, and services related to the distribution of energy.
It should be noted that the services sector is an important part of the Alberta's economy, due it represents the 54 percent of the province's total GDP and even employ more than 1.5 million people by 2015.
- Finally, although the international agreement woke up the suspicion and mistrust of some economists, the great majority of the population involved manifest themselves in favour and even optimistic about the economic results that will be obtained with the mentioned agreement.