Negotiations on Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement expansion nearing completion
Ukrinform | 4 August 2021
Negotiations on Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement expansion nearing completion
Ukraine and Canada are in the final stages of negotiations to expand the Free Trade Agreement to cover services and investment.
“Technical consultations between the two countries, which were held in a virtual format, have already been completed. Now everything is ready to switch to the final stage of negotiations,” Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Andriy Shevchenko said in an interview with Ukrinform.
Canada–Ukraine trade has great potential for expansion, he stressed. “Current Canada–Ukraine trade is crumbs against the background of the great potential that exists between our two forty-million states, one of which is among the most powerful world economies,” said the Ambassador.
Shevchenko pointed out that certain trade items “come through” unexpectedly in mutual trade. “According to last year’s data, every fourth liter of apple juice in Canada comes from Ukraine. Until a few years ago, we would have been very surprised if someone said that apple juice could be such a powerful item of export to Canada. In 2020, Ukraine also overtook Japan among the leading buyers of Canadian fish and seafood. This also surprised many because we rarely see ourselves as large seafood consumers,” he said.
The diplomat called on Canadians and Ukrainians willing to implement profitable projects to “look closely at the opportunities that arise between our countries.”
The Canada–Ukraine Free Trade Agreement entered into force on August 1, 2017, and allowed for the mutual abolition or reduction of import duties on most commodity items.
