Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 12 • Number 40 • 26th November 2008

Canada, Colombia Sign Deals on Trade, Labour

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The leaders of Canada and Colombia signed a free trade agreement in Lima last week, while their subordinates committed their respective governments to abide by specific workers’ rights standards. Separate agreements were also signed on the environment and on taxation rules.

“In a time of global economic instability free trade is more important than ever,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

“By expanding our trading relationship with Colombia, we are not only opening up new opportunities for Canadian businesses in a foreign market, we are also helping one of South America’s most historic democracies improve the human rights and security situation in their country,” he said.

Bilateral merchandise trade between the countries came to US$ 1.14 billion in 2007. Canada sends wheat, heavy equipment, and environmental and engineering services to Colombia, while the South American country’s main exports to Canada are coffee, bananas, coal, oil and sugar. Canadian direct investment in Colombia comes in the form of oil exploration, mining, and printing.

The deal will remove tariffs on 98 percent of Canadian exports to Colombia, either immediately or over 5 or 10 years. Canada will have between three and seven years to eliminate its duties on Colombian goods.

Although the labour agreement commits the Colombian government to respect workers’ rights, eliminate child labour, and allow collective bargaining, among other things, some non-governmental organisations have said that those provisions are not enough.

“I cannot understand why the Prime Minister…is prepared to sign agreements with a country that sees trade unionists murdered at a rate more than the entire world experiences in total,” said Paul Moist, the president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Assuming that legislative hurdles are cleared in both countries, the deal is expected to take effect in January 2010.

The Colombian government is hoping to secure a similar pact with the US, but the deal that has been negotiated has stalled in the US Congress, where some Democrats oppose the agreement on the grounds that it does not offer Colombian workers enough rights and protections.

ICTSD reporting; “Canada and Colombia sign free trade agreement,” THE EPOCH TIMES, 22 November 2008.