Joint summary of discussions of the first Joint Management Committee for Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS JMC) established by the Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK)
March 9, 2022 Ottawa and London (by videoconference)
i) Overview of meeting
This was the inaugural meeting of the Canada-United Kingdom TCA SPS JMC which was held via video conference on March 9, 2022. Both Parties agreed on it having been a very positive and constructive first meeting.
Both Parties began by approving the agenda which can be found in Annex I. Canada and UK provided opening remarks that conveyed a mutual interest to build on the positive and longstanding bilateral relationship.
Canada and UK noted the substantial collaborative work that has already taken place since the UK's departure from the EU, particularly with respect to the transition of export certificates by the end of June 2021 which allowed for trade to continue without trade disruption.
Canada and UK discussed how to make the most effective use of the JMC as a forum for prioritizing issues and developing a work plan to advance these issues over the coming year. To help facilitate this work, there was an agreement to establish ad hoc technical working groups to advance or resolve specific issues, and explore opportunities for collaboration in the areas of food safety, plant health and animal health.
Among the specific issues raised at the meeting were:
- Regionalization for zoning of animal disease outbreaks
- Simplified Canadian export health certificates to the UK; and
- UK's request to export ruminant genetics to Canada
ii) Next steps:
- Canada and UK to prepare a report of the meeting identifying action items for follow-up and to develop a work plan for the upcoming year.
- Canada and UK agreed to establish ad-hoc technical working groups to advance issues to advance food safety, plant health and animal health issues.
- Canada and UK to convene the animal health technical working group to discuss animal health issues including regionalization for zoning of animal disease outbreaks.
- Canada to share prioritized list of food commodities to begin work on simplified export health certificates, and convene working group to engage in technical discussions.
- UK to share information to support its request regarding export of ruminant genetics. A technical meeting among experts to follow after Canada reviews information.
- Canada and UK agreed to hold next JMC SPS Committee in March 2023 and to engage further in the interim as required.
Annex I
Agenda Canada-UK Joint Management Committee for SPS
9 March 2022 (9:30-12:30 Ottawa time and 2:30-5:30 London time)
| Issues on the Agenda | Lead | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Greeting and opening remarks (started by UK) | UK | Add Canadian and UK time |
| UK | 5 mins |
| Canada | 5 mins |
| 2. Approval of the Agenda of the initial meeting of the Joint Management Committee (started by UK) | UK | 5 mins |
| 3. Acknowledgment and agreement by the Joint Management Committee regarding the Canada-UK Committee Management Guidelines (started by UK) Discussion regarding the effective use of SPS committee and ways of working (started by Canada) | UK Canada | 15 mins |
| 4. Agreement text items - work Programme Art 5.14(7), reviewing annexes 5.14(2)(d) and reporting activities Art 5.14(9) (started by UK) | UK | 15 mins |
| 5. Information regarding contact points, organizational structure and distribution of responsibilities between competent authorities in the field of SPS measures (started by UK) | ||
| Canada | 10 mins |
| UK | 10 mins |
| Break | ||
| 6. Discussion of trade considerations of SPS agreement | ||
| 6.a. Regionalisation for zoning of animal outbreaks | UK | 15 mins |
| 6.b. Simplified Export Health Certificates (EHC) | UK | 15 mins |
| 6.c. Ruminant genetics UK exports | UK | 15 mins |
| 7. Calendar of the SPS Sub-Committee. (started by UK) | UK | 5 mins |
| 8. Operational Conclusions (started by UK) | UK | 5 mins |
| 9. Closing remarks (started by UK) | UK | 5 mins |
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