Long road ahead to complete U.K. accession to Canada’s Pacific Rim trade deal

Now that negotiations are finished between the United Kingdom and members of Canada’s Pacific Rim trade deal, there is still much work to be done before London can become the 12th member of the pact, including a ratification process expected to take a minimum of a year and a half. The 18-month negotiation between parties to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)—Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam—and the U.K. wrapped up on March 30. It is expected to take no less than another 18 months before all parties will complete the accession process for the new member, a timeline also requested by the U.K., according to information obtained by The Hill Times from a Global Affairs briefing to Canadian stakeholders last week. Following the end of the negotiations, there will be a legal review of the accession agreement, and the Canadian government’s hope is to sign the accession protocol during a CPTPP commission meeting scheduled for July in New Zealand. But the Canadian Parliament will need to pass legislation before the U.K. can officially join the pact, according to a spokesperson for International Trade Minister Mary Ng (Markham-Thornhill, Ont.). Some stakeholders are already calling on MPs to stall the accession if trade concerns with the U.K. are not addressed, as first reported by the CBC. “If the Government of Canada brings a ratification bill to Parliament without addressing the U.K. barriers to Canadian beef, CCA will approach all Parliamentarians to defeat that bill,” said president Nathan Phinney in a press release. According to information from the Global Affairs briefing, Canada has bettered its market access share for beef, pork, and sweetcorn during the negotiations as part of the U.K. accession process. Canada was the final CPTPP member to conclude market access negotiations with London, according to the briefing. A text of the negotiated agreement has yet to be made public. Conservative MPs Kyle Seeback and John Barlow, pictured, say Canada should have completed a bilateral trade deal with the U.K. before agreeing to London's accession to the CPTPP. The Hill Times photograph by Sam Garcia Conservative MPs Kyle Seeback (Dufferin-Caledon, Ont.) and John Barlow (Foothills, Alta.), their party’s international trade and agriculture critics, respectively, said in a statement that the Canadian government is “leaving farmers and producers behind.” “The Liberals are barging ahead with the deal while the U.K. is still refusing to remove barriers to Canadian pork and beef exports,” the two Tory MPs said. Seeback and Barlow said the priority should have been to finish a Canadian trade pact with the U.K. “The priority for the Liberals should have always been getting a bilateral deal done first, to protect our farmers and our producers,” they said. Ottawa and London are in the midst of trade talks towards a comprehensive trade deal with the objective of completion by April 2024, as per the conditions of their interim trade deal. That transitional pact was signed following the U.K.'s withdrawal from the European Union, which allowed Canada’s trade agreement with the EU to largely be rolled over to cover trade with the United Kingdom. Before the passage of Bill C-79 to implement the CPTPP during the 42nd Parliament, the House of Commons International Trade Committee undertook a more than year-long public consultation on the trade pact, where it heard from 411 witnesses. Ultimately, Bill C-79 passed the House with the support of the Liberals and Conservatives. The NDP and Bloc Québécois were opposed to its passage. Bloc Québécois trade critic Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay (Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot, Que.) told The Hill Times he'll be watching the impact to Canada’s supply-managed dairy sector, with concern that the U.K. is seeking greater access. Under the CPTPP, Canada provides 3.5 per cent of dairy access. A Bloc-backed bill is currently in front of the International Trade Committee to bar further dairy concessions in future trade negotiations. New Zealand has launched a dispute claiming that Canada is not living up to its dairy commitments under the CPTPP. Savard-Tremblay said he has concerns over dairy concessions in both a bilateral trade deal with the U.K., and the U.K.’s accession to the CPTPP. He said it is too early to say how long of a committee study on the U.K.’s accession to the deal will be needed without seeing the implementation legislation. “Of course, we will need to have a good study,” he said. “We’re in favour of transparency and not in favour of rushing things.” “We need to take time to do things properly,” he said. NDP MP Richard Cannings (South Okanagan–West Kootenay, B.C.), his party’s international trade critic, also said it's hard to say what kind of committee study will be necessary without seeing the text of the bill, but noted that he doesn’t foresee it being exhaustive. “This doesn’t change the actual deal, it just lets another country into the deal,” he said, noting there is not much to discuss as the deal remains the same. “We’ll wait to see the agreement, see what the protocol looks like, see what the legislation looks like, but I can’t imagine there being too much to be concerned about,” he said, noting that it is “likely” that the NDP will support the accession. He said with the U.K. wanting dairy access to Canada, the access granted under the CPTPP could help ease pressure to gain access through a bilateral deal. Cannings highlighted the NDP’s historic opposition to investor-state dispute settlement systems (ISDS), but noted that system is already in place in the original CPTPP. “We would probably have to open up the whole CPTPP negotiations again and I don’t really see that happening,” he said, adding that as much as the NDP would like to see ISDS excluded, he doesn’t foresee they would be part of the debate. NDP MP Richard Cannings says it is 'likely' that his party will support the U.K.'s accession to the CPTPP. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade In a press release announcing the end of the CPTPP negotiations, the U.K. said that “in light of the investment relationship the U.K. has with Australia and New Zealand, we have agreed to disapply the ISDS provisions in CPTPP between our countries.” Stuart Trew, director of the trade and investment research project at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, said he is still hopeful a side letter can be reached to remove ISDS provisions between Canada and the U.K. “One would hope that there would be voices in Parliament pushing the government on this,” he said, noting that the U.K. accession is “far from over.” “I expect that there will be a significant fight in the U.K. on ISDS,” he said. “I think in Canada a lot of groups will be pushing to get a side letter in the very least.” He said if Canada has to go back to the negotiation table to get a side letter, it should do so. “What is the rush to get the U.K. into this agreement?” he questioned. “This is an economically meaningless event for anyone.” The Business Council of Canada’s Trevor Kennedy, vice-president of trade and international policy, said the accession of the U.K. to the CPTPP is positive as it adds a significant economy to the deal, but it also starts the accession process for any future countries to join. “It sets a strong precedent to any future economies to go down the same path,” he said. Kennedy said Parliament “usually” works in a “timely fashion with trade agreements.” “Hopefully this is the kind of thing that we will be able to address in a timely fashion along with our partners,” he said, noting that he still has to review the complete text, but he doesn’t perceive “too many issues.” “We can work on a reasonable timeline,” he said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to take 18 months. I think we can move more quickly in Canada, if need be, but we are not necessarily saying this has to be done immediately. We have time.” Carlo Dade, director of the trade and investment centre at the Canada West Foundation, said enlarging the CPTPP is a “huge win” for Canada, as it not only increases market access, but also leads to a more vibrant CPTPP with increasingly integrated supply chains. Dade said he is not concerned about the long timeline for the accession to be complete, noting that Brunei still has yet to ratify the original pact, which it signed in 2018. Despite some sectorial complaints, he said the U.K.’s accession will happen since “too many interests” want to see it go through. “Is this worth scuttling the and a huge strategic advantage? Absolutely not,” he said. According to information from the Global Affairs briefing, the government has not indicated which country will be next in line to accede to the CPTPP. Currently, China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Uruguay (along with the U.K.) have formally applied. nmoss@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

Long road ahead to complete U.K. accession to Canada’s Pacific Rim trade deal

The legislative timeline to pass the U.K.'s accession protocol is expected to take a minimum of 18 months for all CPTPP members.

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Long road ahead to complete U.K. accession to Canada’s Pacific Rim trade deal

The legislative timeline to pass the U.K.'s accession protocol is expected to take a minimum of 18 months for all CPTPP members.

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