KIEV: The free trade agreement between Ukraine and Canada will start working on August 1, 2017; Ukrainian ambassador to Canada Andriy Shevchenko will give a briefing on topical issues prior to this event.
“On Tuesday, August 1, free trade between Ukraine and Canada officially starts: our free trade agreement will come into force,” Ukraine’s embassy in Canada quotes Shevchenko as saying.
The day before, on July 31, the ambassador will hold a thematic briefing for Ukrainian journalists.
“We will discuss the following issues: the main provisions of the Free Trade Agreement, new opportunities for Ukrainian companies, and prospects for Ukrainian-Canadian trade,” the diplomat said.
As earlier reported, the agreement from August 1 will cancel 98% of tariffs for Ukrainian exports to Canada and 72% of tariffs from Canada to Ukraine. Over the next seven years the latter will increase to 98%. Moreover, markets for state purchases are also included. Parts of the agreement safeguard electronic commerce and intellectual property rights.
The trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine was signed in Kyiv on July 11, 2016. Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada ratified the deal on March 14, 2017. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed the law on ratification on April 3, 2017.
