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AEFA - Standing Committee

Foreign Affairs and International Trade

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41-2 41st Parliament, 2nd Session (October 16, 2013 - August 2, 2015)
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Proceedings of the Standing Senate Committee on 
Foreign Affairs and International Trade

Issue 19 - Eighth Report of the Committee

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade has the honour to table its

EIGHTH REPORT

Your committee, which was authorized to examine the subject-matter of those elements contained in Division 15 of Part 4 of Bill C-43, A second Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 11, 2014 and other measures, has, in obedience to the order of reference of Thursday, October 30, 2014, examined the said subject matter and now reports as follows:

Your committee held a meeting with officials from Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada to examine the subject-matter of the provisions before it. Officials explained that the purpose of the legislation is to amend the dispute- settlement chapter in the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement, which came into effect in 1997. That agreement included a state-to-state dispute-settlement mechanism based on the appointment of persons to rosters, which is the approach that is used in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). More recently, Canada has used an alternative system based on ad hoc panels in the event of a dispute.

In 2013, the governments of Canada and Chile agreed to a number of changes to modernize and expand the Canada- Chile Free Trade Agreement, including the addition of a chapter on financial services, and the updating of chapters on government procurement and customs procedures. They also agreed to amend the state-to-state dispute-settlement chapter to use ad hoc panels. Of these changes, only the proposed change to the dispute-settlement mechanism required legislative changes, resulting in the legislation before the committee. Having questioned officials about the provisions proposed in Division 15, your committee agrees that the proposed changes are consistent with more recent free trade agreements implemented by Canada, and therefore recommends that Division 15 of Part 4 of Bill C-43 be approved without amendment.

Respectfully submitted,

RAYNELL ANDREYCHUK

Chair

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