CANADA – COLOMBIA

The Free Trade Agreement between the Republic of Colombia and Canada, its attached letters and
their understandings were signed in Lima, Peru, on November 21, 2008, and "the exchange of
notes that corrects the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and Canada ” on February 18
and 20, 2010. The agreement was approved by Law 1363 of December 9, 2009 by the Colombian
Congress.

The process of incorporation into Colombian domestic legislation was completed on July 24, 2010,
when the Constitutional Court, through judgment C-608/10, found this agreement in accordance
with the country's constitutional order, as well as Law 1363 of 2009, approving the same. Similarly,
the agreement was approved by consensus by the Canadian Parliament on June 21, 2010, and
subsequently signed by the Governor General of this country. The agreement entered into force
on August 15, 2011.

On November 21, 2008, the Free Trade Agreement between Colombia and Canada was signed,
which consolidates an initiative for greater trade integration achieved after five rounds of
negotiations that took place since July 2007. The same ceremony took place upon signing the
Labor Cooperation Agreement and the Environmental Cooperation Agreement.

PLANS AND DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of the Free Trade Agreement with Canada is to create a space free of
restrictions in search of growth and economic development. The agreement frees trade in
goods and includes commitments on trade in services, transit of people, technical
standardization, state purchases, investment, and environmental and labor cooperation,
among other issues.

The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between Colombia and Canada represents preferential access for
the South American country for 97.9% of the agricultural tariff universe, while 99.8% of industrial
goods will enter immediately as soon as the agreement enters into force.

Main achievements

According to information from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, among the main
achievements that were purchased in the negotiation with Canada, are:

 Market Access: as soon as the treaty enters into force, 98% of Colombian exports to
Canada will enter that market free of tariffs. Among the large job-generating sectors that
will especially benefit from the negotiation are textiles and clothing, they have immediate
duty-free access.
 Investment: Canada is an important investor in Colombia, with just over USD1 billion
accumulated during the period 2000-2010. The investment results will allow the country
to offer Canadian companies very attractive conditions, in addition to those already
offered by the Colombian economy.
 Financial services: Colombian companies in the financial sector, particularly those that
manage portfolios such as pension funds, gained market access to a market of 9 Canadian
provinces, representing around USD700,000 million. This is the greatest access granted by
Canada to its trading partners, even greater than the opening granted to the member
countries of the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta, for its acronym in English).
 SMEs: Colombia's interest in benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises from its
international trade negotiations was taken into account. The Treaty Commission must
periodically review the impact of the treaty on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
and seek, where appropriate, the actions that allow it to be better used.
 Cooperation: For the first time, Canada is committed to including, within the framework of
a negotiation of this type, a chapter dedicated exclusively to cooperation issues related to
trade, with which it seeks to develop projects and actions that contribute to a better use
of this agreement in the future.