What we heard? Consultations on Summary of Initial GBA+ for Canada-Mercosur FTA

Overview

On August 23, 2019, the Government of Canada published a summary of the initial gender-based analysis plus (GBA+) conducted on a potential free trade agreement (FTA) between Canada and the South American trading bloc of Mercosur in order to inform ongoing negotiations.

One of the objectives in publishing the summary was to seek feedback from Canadians and stakeholders. In addition to the Gazette Notice, ten social media posts were posted on X (Twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn between August and December, encouraging Canadians to read the report and share their views. Furthermore, a targeted email was sent on August 27 to 25 academics, experts, and leaders from women’s business organizations in Canada and around the world, to seek their views.  Stakeholders had until December 1, 2019, to provide their feedback. 

In total, the Government received six submissions from experts. The feedback acknowledged the value of Canada’s objective of conducting an ongoing impact assessment throughout the course of negotiations. Furthermore, submissions identified possible gaps and risks in the analysis, and provided suggestions on certain provisions which could be included in a Canada-Mercosur FTA in order to advance gender-related outcomes.

Questions posed in Summary

Based on the summary of the initial GBA+, what gaps do you see in the analysis and what risks does this pose?

What other provisions could be included in a Canada-Mercosur FTA in order to advance gender-related issues?

From your point of view, what are the effects and opportunities for under-represented groups in Canada of the proposed FTA with Mercosur?

Are there unintended negative effects of trade due to a Canada-Mercosur FTA on women or other groups that you would like to highlight? In your view, what can be done to promote further positive effects and what could be done to help mitigate negative effects?

What we heard in response to our questions

Gaps & risks

• Gaps in industries analysed in the report (i.e. knowledge-based industries such as hi-tech and animation) where opportunities exist for women professionals/business owners.
• The report overplays potential FTA gains in certain sectors. For example, the report notes anticipated gains in the service/wholesale sector, in which jobs are often low wage, precarious, and part-time.  
• The report gives no sense on what the Government will do to mitigate possible job losses (e.g., re-training, compensation, trade adjustment assistance).
• Although trade agreements are an important opportunity to promote women’s economic empowerment, and particularly awareness, women will not benefit significantly from such agreements if domestic barriers to supporting women business owners are not addressed, such as:
  • Improving the process to obtain intellectual property protection and ensuring it is valid in new markets;
  • Building the knowledge and information of women entrepreneurs on the best markets for their products and services, and awareness of key players in global supply chains;
  • Increasing access for women to larger loans and investment capital; and,
  • Increasing women’s awareness around programs available to them (i.e. CanExport).

Recommendations

• For the Government procurement chapter, stakeholders/experts:
  • Considered that the provision allowing for tenders to include socio-economic considerations and the carve-out for small and minority-owned businesses are too vague to ensure that procuring entities will have enough confidence to develop set-asides for women-owned/managed business. They urged negotiators to include an explicit carve-out for “women-owned business” and “women-managed business” along with definitions in the general notes of its Schedule.
  • Suggested some specific criteria that could be used to define “women-managed business” (e.g. percentage of women in senior positions that involve important decision-making regarding direction of the company; the women must have been in the management positions for at least one year).
• For the Trade and Gender chapter, stakeholders/experts recommended adding a provision that specifies how many activities will take place each year, as an incentive to organize more events, and to report on activities.
• For the Dispute Settlement Chapter, stakeholders/experts suggested:
  • Gathering data on the number of women appointed to serve on dispute settlement panels in order to help support a provision on the need to increase diversity in panel appointments.
  • That the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding Article 8.10 be adapted for the Mercosur FTA  to say something along the following lines of: “If one of the disputing country members requests that the panel include a woman, the panel shall include a woman.”
  • Seeking a provision regarding rosters which could require that a certain percentage of people on the roster be women.
• Add a requirement that the Commission reports on how the Parties are considering gender matters across the agreement.

Next steps

Input provided by stakeholders/experts was shared with the lead negotiators and is being considered as we move forward in updating the GBA+ for Canada-Mercosur FTA and negotiating the agreement.  Once the agreement is concluded, a summary of the final GBA+ will be published, which will include information on how the input received was integrated in the agreement.

Your input is important to us.  Although the dedicated consultation period has concluded, the Government of Canada continues to engage with Canadians. Views on the GBA+ of the FTA negotiations with Mercosur can be sent to consultations@international.gc.ca.