By Ken Mark, a freelance writer specializing in international trade and investment. Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

A trio of speakers at the recent EUCOCIT update on the ninth round of Canada-EU CETA negotiations all agreed that the “heavy lifting” remains.   

That end game of the Comprehensive Economic & Trade Agreement requires politicians on both sides to trade off gains in one sector against concessions in others. The talks have progressed slowly of late to accommodate European unfamiliarity with Canada’s negative-list approach and the inclusion of investments to the agenda.

Both topics will strengthen the ultimate agreement. The negative-list approach accepts everything except items specifically excluded. (In contrast, a positive-list version would only include cited items.) The advantage is that many goods and services that will dominate the future economy do not currently exist. By being more flexible, a negative-list agreement reduces the need for possible changes.

“It will be a comprehensive agreement that goes beyond trade to include investment, services and procurement,” says Fred Kingston, Senior Adviser, EU Delegation to Canada. “It is still ambitious. Nothing has been taken off the table.”

In his view, negotiators have agreed on the vast majority of duty eliminations and are starting to exchange offers on most of the sectors. Both sides are busy hammering out the value of various tariff offers and a rules-of-origin definition.

Kingston expects negotiations to wrap early in the New Year.

For his part, Ontario’s chief negotiator Maurice Bitran of the Ministry of Economic Development & Innovation believes that the inclusion of the provinces in the talks has been crucial. “They all have different trade interests,” he says. “For Ontario, it is manufacturing and for those in Atlantic Canada, it is fish.”

However, Bitran stresses that all of them are under pressure to diversify their exports away from US markets. He also explains that the recent Ontario Speech from the Throne concluded that international trade is essential to economic growth. It now requires belonging to integrated, global supply chains. “Trade is no longer a zero-sum game -- all parties now benefit,” he says.

Balancing off such officials views were comments from Thurstan Berkeley, Toronto-based CFO for Tilley’s Endurables Inc. He concludes the European Community’s reputation as a common market is undeserved. His firm is constantly frustrated by the EU members’ lack of harmonization of product standards, rules and regulations not to mention inconsistencies in their interpretation.

In the Q & A session, when was asked if recent concerns over Canada’s supply management practices for dairy products would derail the talks, Kingston responded, “EU producers want to sell more cheese and yogurt products not fresh milk in Canada. Our objective is to gain greater market access for these items not to attack the supply management system.”

Such a business-minded attitude will do wonders to make last-minute, heavy lifting easier.