On May 11, 2017 Bill C-30, an Act to implement the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union and its Member States and to provide for certain other measures, was passed by the Senate. This was followed by an announcement on May 17th, that CETA had received Royal Assent.
The short title of the Bill is the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act.
While the CETA Implementation Act has passed through its third reading by the Senate in Canada, there are still additional steps to be taken to prior to confirming a coming into force date. As outlined in Article 30.7, this agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date the Parties exchange written notifications certifying that they have completed their respective internal requirements and procedures or on such other date as the parties may agree.
It is highly speculated the coming into force date will be July 1, 2017, however some partners in the international trade community believe it could be implemented as early as June 1.
Until the notifications are complete Livingston cannot confirm the implementation date.
In the meantime, we are recommending that our clients, talk to their suppliers especially their top suppliers and request they in turn start their qualification process of their products.
Additional information is available on the Government of Canada CETA Website.
Over the coming days and weeks we expect each party to be issuing updated or new regulations as part of the implementation process.
Watch the Livingston Trade News site for updates as more information becomes available.