GHY Tradelines

(Mike Godfrey — Tax-News)

Canada and Costa Rica have concluded a third round of talks on the expansion and modernization of their existing free trade agreement (FTA).

The latest negotiations were held in Ottawa, with a fourth round scheduled for June. The original FTA entered into force in 2002 but did not include provisions in areas such as cross-border trade in services, financial services, investment and government procurement.

According to Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs, expanding the agreement to include such sectors would bring the deal into line with the model the government nowadays aspires to in its trade negotiations. It is also hoped that an amended FTA will create new opportunities for Canadian businesses in sectors like construction, manufacturing, financial services and telecommunications. Read more here.
 

(DFAIT)

The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, [Monday] announced the successful conclusion of a second round of negotiations to modernize the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement.

“Expanding our free trade agreement with Costa Rica will enhance access for businesses in many sectors, which means jobs and prosperity for Canadian workers and families,” said Minister Fast. “By deepening Canada’s trading relationships around the world, our government is committed to helping businesses gain preferred access in priority markets.”

The original agreement entered into force in 2002 but did not include provisions in areas such as cross-border trade in services, financial services, investment and government procurement. An expanded agreement would create greater opportunities for Canadian businesses in many sectors, including construction, manufacturing, financial services and telecommunications.

The talks took place February 6 to 10 in San José, Costa Rica. A third round is scheduled for April 2012.

Costa Rica has been Canada’s largest trading partner in Central America since 2002, accounting for 31% of Canada’s two-way merchandise trade with the region in 2010. The main categories of Canadian exports to Costa Rica in 2010 were paper and paperboard, cereals and machinery.

“In what remain globally challenging economic times and with one in five Canadian jobs generated by trade, expanding agreements like ours with Costa Rica is a key part of our government’s low-tax, pro-trade plan for jobs and economic growth,” added Minister Fast. “Promoting free trade, diversifying our export markets and helping Canadian businesses expand and succeed in priority markets around the world will strengthen the financial security of Canadian families and ensure Canada’s economic success now and into the future.”

In the Americas region, Canada has concluded trade agreements with Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru and the United States. Together, Canadian exports to these countries made up over three quarters of Canada’s worldwide exports in 2010.
 

(DFAIT)

The Honourable Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today announced the start of the first round of negotiations to modernize the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement taking place in Ottawa this week. This negotiating round will wrap up on November 10, 2011.

“I travelled to Costa Rica with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in August, where he announced Canada’s commitment to further strengthening our economic ties with Costa Rica,” said Minister Fast. “We are acting on this commitment today by launching negotiations that will create jobs for workers and generate prosperity for families both in Canada and in Costa Rica—a key objective of Canada’s engagement in the Americas.”

The Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in 2002, focuses mainly on trade in goods. An expanded free trade agreement will deepen market access in services and government procurement. It will also cover e-commerce, telecommunications, investment and technical barriers to trade.

“With one in five jobs and more than 60% of Canada’s economy generated by trade, our government’s focus is on creating jobs and opportunity for hard-working Canadian families,” added Minister Fast. “An improved free trade agreement with Costa Rica will create new opportunities for Canadian businesses in many sectors, including agriculture, construction, financial services, government procurement, manufacturing and telecommunications.”

Costa Rica is Canada’s largest trading partner in Central America, accounting for 31% of Canada’s two-way merchandise trade with the region in 2010.

Canada has concluded trade agreements with eight countries in the Americas and is actively pursuing additional trade relationships in the region. Last June, during his first official working visit as Canada’s trade minister, Minister Fast announced the formal launch of exploratory talks between Canada and South America’s largest common market, Mercosur, whose members are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Mercosur countries represent a market of nearly 250 million consumers and account for almost three quarters of all economic activity in South America.
 

(Government of Canada – Prime Minister’s Office)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the launch of negotiations to modernize the existing free trade agreement between Canada and Costa Rica, as well as the signing of an air transportation agreement and a tax information exchange agreement between the two countries. The announcements were made during a working visit with President Laura Chinchilla in San José, Costa Rica.

“Canada and Costa Rica enjoy excellent bilateral relations. In fact, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Canadian Embassy in San José,” said the Prime Minister. “By removing trade barriers, facilitating air travel between our countries and working together to combat tax evasion, the measures announced today will lead to new opportunities and stronger economies for both Canadians and Costa Ricans.”

The announcements will have far-reaching benefits for Canada and Costa Rica. Most notably:
Negotiations towards the modernization of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement will aim to accelerate the elimination of tariffs for agricultural and industrial goods, increase market access and broaden the agreement to cover other areas, such as cross-border trade in services, including financial services.

The air transportation agreement will further strengthen ties between Canada and Costa Rica by providing airlines with flexibility in terms of routes, frequency of service and pricing, which will in turn promote travel, trade and economic growth in each country. The agreement also marks another step towards the successful implementation of the Blue Sky Policy with countries in Central America.

The Tax Information Exchange Agreement will create the legal framework that will enable Canada and Costa Rica to exchange relevant tax information. By doing so, it will help Canadian and Costa Rican authorities combat international tax evasion, enforce domestic tax laws and protect the integrity of their tax systems.

Each of the measures announced today is consistent with Canada’s Engagement in the Americas strategy, which aims to promote prosperity at home and in countries of the Western hemisphere.
 

pspan style=”FONT-FAMILY: ‘Verdana’, ‘sans-serif’; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 8pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial”(Minister of International Trade)?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” /o:p/o:p/span/pp style=”MARGIN-BOTTOM: 12pt”span style=”FONT-FAMILY: ‘Verdana’, ‘sans-serif’; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial”The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, announced yesterday that Canada and Costa Rica have agreed to work toward modernizing the existing bilateral free trade agreement. Minister Van Loan made the announcement following his meeting with the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Minister, Anabel Gonzalez.br /br /“Our government’s aggressive free trade agenda is creating opportunities for Canadian businesses and workers and is securing future prosperity for Canadians and our trading partners in the hemisphere,” said Minister Van Loan. “Costa Rica is our largest trading partner in the region, and updating our free trade agreement is the logical next step in our growing commercial relationship.”br /br /Canada and Costa Rica have enjoyed excellent bilateral relations, enhanced by the entry into force of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement in 2002, a first-generation agreement that focuses mainly on trade in goods and excludes substantive provisions in areas such as cross-border trade in services, government procurement, financial services and investment.br /br /An updated free trade agreement could lower tariffs on goods and remove trade barriers in a broad range of sectors, creating new opportunities for the Canadian construction, manufacturing and agricultural industries. It could also expand market access for cross-border trade in services, financial services, electronic commerce, telecommunications and investment, as well as secure access to the government procurement market.br /br /Two-way trade between Canada and Costa Rica totalled $441.8 million in 2009. In the same year, Canadian exports consisted mainly of preserved foods, machinery, and paper and paperboard.o:p/o:p/span/p