Panama & Canada: Free Trade Agreement

Since Canada and Panama launched their free trade negotiations , both countries announced on August 11, 2009, the conclusion of negotiations towards a free trade agreement (FTA), as well as agreements on labour cooperation and the environment.The main elements covered by the FTA include: 

·        market access for goods

·        cross-border trade in services

·        telecommunications

·        investment

·        financial services and government procurement. 
It is important to mention that as a precedent of the current FTA, Canada and Panama had negotiated a Foreign Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement (FIPA) which came into force in 1998. The actual FTA Chapter on Investment replaces the existing FIPA, further protecting and expanding access for Canadian investors and their investments.

The agreement eliminates tariffs on 90% of the goods and products from Canada. The remaining 10% of the tariffs will be eliminated in the course of a 10 years counted from the date of implementation of the FTA.

Products from Panama have a 99% exoneration tariff of  importation into Canada . Products except from such exoneration are sugar , poultry, eggs and dairy products.

Recent statistics demonstrate that during the course of the year 2103 bilateral trade exchange between both countries amounted to almost 200 million US dollars. Main products exported from Canada were mechanical machinery ,agriculture and agri food, toys, paper and paperboard.

Top products exported from Panama were gold and agri food.

The Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement and parallel agreements on labour cooperation and the environment entered into force since April 2013, and many Canadian multinational and individual investors are beginning to structure projects around the benefits granted and that logistically Panama ha become a gateway tio Latinamerica. 

For further information on the FTA please contact:

Dr. Juan José Espino

jjes@padela.com