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Meeting of the CETA Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development

April 27, 2023 (Brussels)

Joint Report

The fifth meeting of the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) Committee on Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) took place on April 27, 2023, in a hybrid format. Officials from the European Union (EU) and Canada reviewed progress on the implementation of the TSD committee work plan, including initiatives under the joint recommendations on Trade and Gender, and on Trade, Climate and the Paris Agreement, as well as on the TSD Early Review. The Parties provided updates on new policy developments and legislation pertaining to these issues and discussed further activities for collaboration to advance trade and sustainable development initiatives under CETA. In line with previous TSD meetings, the Committee was joined by the Chairs of the Canadian and the EU Domestic Advisory Groups (DAGs) under CETA and welcomed their feedback and suggestions for collaboration under the CETA TSD chapters, as well as on CETA’s Civil Society Forum (CSF) held on April 25 and 26, 2023 (report from the CSF available here).

Trade and environment and Trade and climate action

During the dedicated session on trade and environment and climate action, the Parties updated each other on the developments in their respective domestic environment and climate policies, and highlighted the different topics raised during the CSF, which included energy transition, biodiversity climate mitigation and adaptation and green technologies. Canada and the EU acknowledged the successful outcome of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Discussions covered several ongoing cooperation initiatives including on deforestation, carbon pricing and carbon leakage, biodiversity, plastic pollution and circular economy, and chemicals management. The Parties agreed to explore future cooperation in these areas. They reaffirmed their commitment to engage and contribute to the 2023-2024 TSD Committee joint work plan.

Planning forward, the Parties noted potential synergies on circular economy citing the Commission’s participation at the circular economy event in the Canadian pavilion at COP27 as well as close convergences under the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The Parties will also continue to cooperate through formal mechanisms such as the Canada-EU High Level Dialogues on Environment and the Canada-EU High Level Dialogue on Climate Change. Parties also agreed to ensure coverage of priority issues in the forthcoming Green Alliance.

The Parties concluded that given the depth of existing Canada-EU cooperation, as well as the breadth of potential activities, the EU and Canada will carefully consider how to prioritize all these activities to ensure resources are properly allocated and that they deliver results within the projected timelines.

TSD Early Review

Canada reiterated its objective to pursue the effective enforceability of provisions in the TSD chapters on environment and labour via sanctions or fines and its commitment to continue to work with the EU on this issue.

Regarding TSD Early Review, the EU presented the EU TSD Review Communication published in June 2022 highlighting that the only way for introducing sanctions remains a review of the agreement, which is not possible as long as CETA has not been fully ratified. The EU stressed that the TSD implementation easily caters for new sustainability challenges and ensured that CETA continues delivering. The EU proposed to bring the bulk of the action points of the EU TSD review also to CETA, e.g., extending the scope of DAGs to the whole free trade agreement (FTA).

The Parties noted civil society calls to make progress in the TSD review and reiterated to the DAG representatives who attended the meeting that they remain available to continue discussion on their respective positions and proposals.

Trade and labour 

During the trade and labour session, the Parties highlighted their joint priorities, including an overview of their respective technical assistance projects in third countries to promote and protect fundamental labour rights, their efforts to ratify International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions, particularly Occupational Safety and Health Conventions, as well as their respective suite of policy and legislative initiatives to combat forced and child labour, including in global supply chains.

The EU presented its legislative proposals on forced labour, and mandatory due diligence supply chain and highlighted important initiatives relating to labour, which included the improvement of working conditions for digital labour platforms workers.

Canada shared information on its ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labour and its commitment to introduce legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains.

Mindful of the DAGs working priorities, the Parties committed to reinforce coordination on cooperation in third countries, focusing on supply chains and the most vulnerable groups.

Trade and Indigenous Peoples

The Parties discussed Canada’s approach to integrating Indigenous Peoples into trade agreements, and Canada informed on the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA) which includes Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Chinese Taipei.  Canada invited EU member states to join once it is fully operational in the fall of 2023. Canada and the EU agreed to continue discussions aimed at identifying an appropriate instrument and concrete joint activities to facilitate the access and benefits of CETA for Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the EU.

Trade and Gender, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) / Responsible Business Conduct (RBC)

During the session of the Trade and Sustainable Development Committee meeting, the Parties committed to refreshing the current work plan on trade and gender under CETA. Canada shared various objectives on trade and gender and recommended that the Parties hold more joint activities on trade and gender, pointing out some activities such as on gender equality or promoting women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. The Parties also agreed to continue joint work at the WTO’s Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender with a view to implementing the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment. Further, the EU clarified to Canada that EU member states cannot join the Global Trade and Gender Arrangement (GTAGA) individually, since trade is an EU exclusive competence, even though it is non-binding cooperation. GTAGA members currently include: Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, New Zealand, and Peru, with Argentina to join very soon.

On corporate social responsibility (CSR) and responsible business conduct (RBC), both Parties introduced their respective domestic legislative developments, including the EU proposal for a directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. Canada informed on the on-going plans to incorporate a dedicated RBC Chapter in future free trade agreements.

Both Parties agreed that the relevant experts will continue to be in touch and share best practices.

TSD Committee – CETA DAGs representatives meeting

Representatives of the Canadian and European CETA DAGs joined the TSD Committee meeting, during which TSD Committee co-chairs provided a summary of discussions and the ideas for potential collaboration in the coming year. The concrete ideas for bilateral exchanges and cooperation outlined in detail in the CETA joint TSD work plan will be published mid-2023, and the DAGs will have an opportunity to provide comments. The Parties also thanked the DAGs for their consistent and active involvement, including their participation and important contributions in the Fifth Annual CETA CSF.

The DAG chairs outlined the priorities of their work, including trade and climate, obtaining accurate data and measuring sustainability of international trade flows, negative impacts on the supply chains, focusing on the most vulnerable groups, and the implementation of the EU TSD review. They also offered constructive suggestions for future collaboration, including a request to have more informal interim discussions with the TSD co-chairs on related updates, rather than holding only annual meetings via the CSF and TSD Committee. The DAG representatives also expressed their interest in more robust civil society interaction during the CSF via the use of breakout sessions, while recognizing this may not be technically feasible when the event is held virtually.

Participants

Canada

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Environment and Climate Change Canada
Employment and Social Development Canada
Mission of Canada to the European Union
Provincial Government Representatives

European Union

European Commission (EC) Directorate-General for Trade
EC Directorate-General for Environment
EC Directorate-General for Climate Action
EC Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion
EC Directorate-General for Justice
Delegation of the European Union to Canada