The Member States of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) – comprising of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and Canada announced today that negotiations on an EFTA-Canada Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have been successfully concluded.
The agreement covers notably trade in industrial goods, agriculture, principles of competition law and policy, and trade facilitation. The Parties will review jointly issues related to services and investment no later than three years following the entry into force of the Agreement. The Parties will now proceed with a legal review of the texts of the Agreement with a view to preparing them for signing at ministerial level as soon as possible.
In 2006 as in 2005, Canada was EFTA's fifth largest trading partner regarding trade in goods (after the EU, the United States, Japan and China). Canada thus already is a key trading partner for EFTA, and the agreement is expected to bring further growth and diversification in bilateral trade. In 2006, total trade in goods between the EFTA States and Canada amounted to US$ 8.7 billion - up 10% in nominal value terms from the previous year. EFTA's exports to Canada in 2006 were worth US$ 6.0 billion, up 4% from the previous year in nominal value terms. EFTA's imports from Canada totalled US$ 2.7 billion, up 26% from the previous year (see also the Annex).
EFTA's leading imports from Canada in 2006 were nickel and articles thereof (53% of total imports from Canada), pharmaceuticals (12%), and machinery and mechanical appliances (6%). Norway's main exports to Canada in 2006 were mineral fuels and oil (94% of total), followed by machinery and mechanical appliances. Switzerland's most important exports to Canada consisted of pharmaceuticals (48% of total), organic chemicals (20%), and machinery and mechanical appliances (8%). In 2006, Iceland exported mainly fish and crustaceans, and machinery and mechanical appliances to Canada.
The EFTA-Canada FTA shows the current dynamism in EFTA's policy towards non-EU countries, the so-called third-country policy. Canada is EFTA's largest trading partner - after the EU - with whom a free trade agreement has been concluded until now.