Summary of discussions following the first joint committee established by the Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK)

March 24, 2022 Ottawa, Canada

The inaugural meeting of the Canada-United Kingdom (UK) Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) Joint Committee was held in Ottawa on 24 March, 2022. The meeting was co-chaired by Canada's Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, Mary Ng, and the UK's Secretary of State for International Trade, Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Introductory remarks

The co-chairs formally adopted the agenda of the meeting.

The co-chairs acknowledged the significance of the Canada-UK trade relationship as well as the importance of the TCA in maintaining preferential market access. The co-chairs noted this is especially relevant as the two countries have begun negotiations towards a new bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

Adoption of the TCA Rules of Procedure

The co-chairs formally adopted the Rules of Procedure for the TCA. The Rules of Procedure outline how the Joint Committee operates, including preparing for and reporting on Committee meetings. The Rules of Procedure apply to all specialized committees unless those committees have different rules specified in the TCA.

Specialized Committee meeting summaries

Canada and the UK exchanged views on the reporting from TCA specialized committees.

Joint Management Committee for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (JMC)

The co-chairs acknowledged that the inaugural meeting of the JMC on March 9, 2022 was positive with both sides strongly committing to address and resolve SPS issues. The UK and Canada noted the substantial collaborative work that had already taken place since the UK's departure from the EU, and discussed how to make the most effective use of the JMC going forward. Among the specific issues raised were the regionalization for zoning of animal disease outbreaks, simplified export health certificates and the UK's request for access for ruminant genetics exports.

The UK and Canada agreed that the JMC is a good avenue to continue the positive work and cooperation already underway in the SPS space.

Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) Committee

The co-chairs acknowledged the positive inaugural meeting of the TSD Committee. The UK and Canada exchanged shared priorities with respect to the environment, climate and labour. Among the specific topics in the exchange were carbon pricing, carbon leakage, NetZero and Glasgow breakthroughs, information on protections for workers in the gig economy, the eradication of forced labour and an update on the ratification of ILO convention 190.

Both Canada and the UK acknowledged the importance of continuing to support collaborative work under the TSD Committee.

Government Procurement Committee (GPC)

The co-chairs acknowledged ongoing Canada and UK cooperation on government procurement, including in the context of the first inaugural committee meeting. The co-chairs noted the value in sharing best practices for procurement including in areas such as green procurement, as well as shared learning between Canada's new ethical procurement policy and the UK's modern slavery policy.

Update on the process for appointing arbitrators

Both Canada and the UK provided an update on their process for appointing arbitrators as required under the TCA. Both sides agreed to work together to establish the final list of arbitrators in the near future.

Canada

Canada is carrying out a selection process in order to form a list of qualified arbitrators under the TCA. The aim of the process is to ensure that there is diversity and inclusion in the list through an open competition and rigorous selection process. While Canada acknowledged that the process may be lengthier, it is committed to ensuring it has a qualified pool of diverse candidates.

UK

The UK completed a process to identify arbitrators for all its free trade agreements that have requirements for arbitrators, following an Expression of Interest campaign launched in November 2020. In this process the UK ran an open competition in order to secure a broad and diverse range of well-qualified candidates.

Conclusion

The co-chairs brought the meeting to a close and welcomed ongoing progress towards the implementation of the TCA.