[ARCHIVED CONTENT] DTI - Europe & World Trade

NAFTA was established in 1994 and comprises of a free trade agreement between Canada, US and Mexico.

NAFTA was devised to create an expanded and secure market for the goods and services produced in their territories and reduce distortions to trade. It established clear rules governing their trade and built on their respective rights and obligations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and other multilateral and bilateral instruments of co-operation.

The NAFTA secretariat operates a Dispute Settlement Provision, which deals with disputes arising from the interpretation or application of the NAFTA. Further information can be found at North America Free Trade Area (NAFTA) website.

In 2001 EU exports of goods to NAFTA were over �180bn and imports from NAFTA were over �145bn.

The Summit of the Americas held in Quebec City on 20-22 April 2001 saw an agreement among the 34 democracies in the western hemisphere to agree to the construction of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The groundwork for this launch had been done at the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the FTAA in Buenos Aries on 6-7 April 2001.

The FTAA �Trade Negotiations Committee� is the executive body of the negotiating process. There are then the various Negotiating Groups working on the nine negotiating areas, covering market access, agriculture, services, investment, government procurement, intellectual property, subsidies/anti-dumping/countervailing duties, competition policy, dispute settlement. A �Technical Committee on Institutional Issues� is working on the development of the overall structure of the FTAA Agreement, including issues such as institutional mechanisms, transparency and general provisions that will apply across the scope of the entire Agreement.

The EU and US are the world's largest two economies. Each is the other�s largest market. Two-way trade amounts to over �300 billion a year. More than 5000 US companies are based in the UK, with almost 10,000 across the whole of the EU.

We monitor and analyse trade policy developments in the US, Canada and the NAFTA and FTAA agreements (see above), and develop UK policies on trade relations with the region, mainly through the European Union. Our counterparts in the US are the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR). The US Department of Commerce and US State Department also deal with aspects of EU/US trade policy.

The EU-US relationship is governed by the New Transatlantic Agenda (NTA). Trade is one of the key elements of the NTA and is covered in greater detail in the Transatlantic Economic Partnership.

A number of transatlantic dialogues were established under the NTA. Trade aspects are covered in detail by the Transatlantic Business Dialogue (TABD) which was established in 1995 as a "virtual organisation" of EU and US businesses. The TABD is a business-to-business group, which develops positions on a range of trade matters through a series of sub-groups devoted to particular issues. The TABD then presents its recommendations to EU and US governments. There are also dialogues for consumers, labour and legislators.

We also deal with issues arising out of US claims to extraterritorial jurisdiction, especially in the field of sanctions legislation (e.g. the Helms-Burton Act and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act). We are also responsible for general policy on the extraterritorial application of legislation by any overseas country (Contact toni.woodger@dti.gov.uk).

The Act is designed to deal with biological terrorist risks and other public health emergencies. If you ship foodstuffs to the USA then you will be affected by it. The main changes are:

The requirement that all food facilities must be registered with the US Treasury.
Food imported or offered for import into the USA from unregistered food facilities shall be held at the port of entry until such registration is completed.
Prior notice is required for all food shipments. The notice must include the identity of each of the following: the article; the manufacturer and shipper of the article; the grower of the article (if known within a specified period of time that notice is required to be provided); the country from which the article originates; country from which it is shipped, and the anticipated port of entry. Foodstuffs sent without this data risk being refused admission to the USA.
Foodstuffs covered by this Act include: food or drink for man or animals, chewing gum, and components of these articles. That includes fruits and vegetables, fish and seafood, dairy products, eggs, raw agricultural commodities for use as food or components of food, canned foods, animal feed including pet food, food or food ingredients, food additives including substances that migrate into food from packaging and other articles that contact food. It also includes dietary supplements and dietary ingredients. It includes infant formula and other beverages including alcoholic beverages and bottled water, live food animals such as pigs or cattle, and bakery goods, snack foods, and sweets. IT DOES NOT INCLUDE foods regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and that is meat, poultry, and egg products.

The Act will come into force on the 12^th December 2003. The �interim final� rules were posted on the 10^th October and it is hoped that the registration will go �live� on the 16^th October 2003.

For further details please see the SITPRO and Food and Drug Administration websites

UK Trade & Investment help UK companies to trade abroad. See their Website for further information about exporting to the USA.

Trade Relations With Canada

The EU and Canada enjoy a long standing and important bilateral trading relationship. The EU is by far Canada's second largest trading partner (after the US), with two-way trade exceeding �26 billion in 2001.

We monitor and analyse trade policy developments in the US, Canada and the NAFTA and FTAA agreements (see above), and develop UK policies on trade relations with the region, mainly through the EU. Our counterparts in Canada are in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT).

The desire to deepen and broaden trade relations between the EU and Canada led to the agreement of an EU Canada Action Plan and to the recent development of the EU-Canada Trade Initiative (ECTI). ECTI is intended to build upon the bilateral and multilateral trading relationships between the EU and Canada. Business communities in the EU and Canada launched the Canada Europe Round Table involving a number of major EU and Canadian companies to offer advice on trade and investment issues. Development of ECTI and CERT remains on-going.

At the EU-Canada Summit in Ottawa on 19 December 2002 there was an agreed commitment to "a new type of forward-looking, wide-ranging bilateral trade and investment enhancement agreement, covering, inter alia, new generation issues and outstanding barriers."

UK Trade & Investment helps UK companies to trade abroad. Click here for further information about exporting to Canada.

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