Preamble – Text of the 2023 Canada - Ukraine Free Trade Agreement

Canada and Ukraine, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties",

Recalling the Free Trade Agreement Between Canada and Ukraine, done at Kyiv on 11 July 2016, and which entered into force on 1 August 2017 (the "2017 Agreement");

Desiring to further strengthen bilateral relations through trade, and to build upon the 2017 Agreement through the establishment of an enhanced and modernized new free trade agreement;

resolved to:

Strengthen the special bonds of friendship and cooperation between their peoples;

Contribute to the harmonious development and expansion of world and regional trade and to provide a catalyst to broader international cooperation;

Build on their respective rights and obligations under the WTO Agreement and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of cooperation;

Create an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in their territories, as well as promote new employment opportunities and improved working conditions and living standards in their respective territories;

Reduce distortions to trade;

Establish clear, transparent and mutually advantageous rules to govern their trade;

Ensure a predictable commercial framework for business planning and investment;

Enhance and promote the competitiveness of exports and firms in global markets, and conditions of fair competition;

Undertake each of the preceding in a manner that is consistent with environmental protection and conservation;

Protect, enhance and enforce basic workers' rights, and strengthen cooperation on labour matters and build on their respective international commitments on labour matters;

Promote high levels of environmental protection, including through effective enforcement by each Party of its environmental laws, as well as through enhanced environmental cooperation, and further the aims of sustainable development, including through mutually supportive trade and environmental policies and practices;

Encourage enterprises operating within their territory or subject to their jurisdiction to respect internationally recognized corporate social responsibility and responsible business conduct standards and principles and pursue best practices;

Promote broad-based economic development in order to reduce poverty;

Preserve their flexibility to safeguard the public welfare;

and

Recognizing that the promotion and the protection of investments of investors of a party in the territory of the other party will be conducive to the stimulation of mutually beneficial business activity;

Recognizing that States must maintain the ability to preserve, develop and implement their cultural policies for the purpose of strengthening cultural diversity, given the essential role that cultural goods and services play in the identity and diversity of societies and the lives of natural persons;

Affirming their commitment to respect the values and principles of democracy and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms as identified in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

Recognizing that Indigenous Peoples in Canada and Ukraine, including the Indigenous Peoples of the Crimean Peninsula, have the right to economic development and participation in trade and to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities, the Parties resolve to improve the economic and social conditions of Indigenous Peoples when implementing this Agreement;

Supporting the growth and development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by enhancing their ability to participate in and benefit from the opportunities created by this Agreement; and

Seeking to facilitate equal access to, and ability to benefit from, the opportunities created by this Agreement for women and men, and to support the conditions for women's full participation in domestic, regional, and international trade and investment.

Have agreed as follows: