Consultations on negotiations to expand the existing Free Trade Agreement with the State of Israel

Closing Date: December 30, 2011

On October 10, 2010, the Honourable Peter Van Loan, former Minister of International Trade, and his Israeli counterpart Binyamin Ben Eliezer, Israel's then Minister of Industry, Trade and Labour, announced that Canada and Israel were to undertake steps toward modernizing the existing Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA).  The Ministers agreed that officials would start exploratory talks in order to work on moving beyond the original, first-generation trade agreement that is currently in place by significantly expanding its application.  (See News Release : Harper Government Announces Exploratory Talks to Expand the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement)

The Government of Canada is seeking the views of Canadians on the scope of potential negotiations for the expansion of CIFTA. For information about this initiative with Israel and the consultations, please see the ARCHIVED Canada Gazette Notice: Consultations on Negotiations to Expand the Existing Free Trade Agreement with the State of Israel of October 29, 2011, as well as the additional background information available on the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement page.

This notice is part of the Government of Canada’s domestic consultations process with business, citizen-based organizations and individual Canadians, as well as with provincial and territorial governments, to obtain advice and views on priorities, objectives and concerns to help outline the parameters of the initiative.

All interested parties are invited to submit their views by December 30, 2011. Contributions can be sent by e-mail, facsimile or mail to:

Trade Negotiations Consultations (Israel)
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
Trade Policy and Negotiations Division I (TPE)
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON K1A 0G2
Fax: 613-944-3214
Email: consultations@international.gc.ca