International Trade committee  I can't really comment on the extent to how exactly they're prioritizing it. I know that they're active in that part of the world. They serve Ukraine from another office in a nearby country, and—

International Trade committee  As I said, I think we all know that they're focusing on the opportunities there. I can't speak to their specific programs and how that stacks up with other opportunities in the region.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. We could answer that in relation to three categories: agriculture, fish and seafood, and industrial goods. I mentioned a couple already in agriculture. I mentioned wine. Our largest agricultural export to Ukraine is pork, and we will have duty-free

International Trade committee  That's a very good question. The short answer to your question, I would say, is that there is a growing awareness of the deal. The conclusion of negotiations was announced, the agreement was signed one year later, and now it's going through a parliamentary process in Canada—and i

International Trade committee  As I said, we really didn't see any potentially injurious threats from a surge of imports from Ukraine in any sector or in any product. Basically, in our free trade agreements, we try to be as ambitious as possible. That's why we are doing them. Where we seek phase-outs for Can

International Trade committee  Ukraine President Poroshenko introduced legislation on November 17 to implement this agreement, and we have had regular indications from Ukraine that this is a priority for them in terms of ratification. I would venture to say that it's probable that by the time Canada complete

International Trade committee  By virtue of the sanctions regime in place, there is a geographic constraint on the parts of Ukraine with which Canada can do business at the present time. That will continue until such time as those sanctions are modified. There is a prospect, since all of Ukraine is covered in

International Trade committee  It was very much part of the negotiations. It actually follows a very similar narrative to that of services, which I outlined earlier in response to an earlier question. There are certain linkages between services and investment in our typical model for free trade agreements, and

International Trade committee  There is not a concern that it will negatively impact Canada. Our tariffs on steel are not inconsequential. Some products have lower tariffs than others, but as a practical matter we have no concern with the fair competition that will result from a lowering of our steel tariffs.

International Trade committee  Yes, and I'll ask my colleague, Pierre Bouchard, to chip in, in a second, in terms of the labour chapter elements that would touch on human rights. The agreement itself makes a reference to the importance of human rights in the preamble, and the other area where there would be s

International Trade committee  Given the nature and the magnitude of the trading relationship, we considered in the negotiations that we needed almost no tariff phase-outs. Except for autos, everything on our side is going to zero on day one. The consideration was there. Whatever the increase in imports from U

International Trade committee  We do.

International Trade committee  The inclusion of the whole services cluster, which includes cross-border financial services, temporary entry, and telecommunication services, is something that was very much of interest to Canada in these negotiations. In fact, it was part of negotiations for a good part of the p

International Trade committee  As it pertains to specific goods and merchandise trade, it's a question of what British Columbia's areas of focus and areas of interest are vis-à-vis Ukraine. The vast majority of tariffs will be eliminated under this agreement. There are very few exclusions from tariff concess

International Trade committee  Were there any concerns about that?