Preferential Trade updates 04/21

Canada and UK implement the free trade agreement

Canada’s Minister of International Trade announced that Canada will ratify its Trade Continuity Agreement (TCA) with the United Kingdom. The announcement came after the Canadian Minister held a call with the United Kingdom’s Secretary of State for International Trade, Elizabeth Truss. It is anticipated that Canada and the UK will implement the agreement by April 1, 2021. 

UK and Cameroon sign trade agreement

The United Kingdom has signed an Economic Partnership Agreement with Cameroon. The deal provides certainty for British and Cameroonian businesses, ensuring they can continue to trade as freely as they do now without any additional barriers or tariffs. The UK-Cameroon trade was worth around £200m in 2019, and this deal lays a foundation to extend our trading relationship in the future. The UK market accounts for 12% of total exports of bananas from Cameroon and this agreement will maintain tariff-free market access to the UK. It also guarantees continued market access for UK exporters, who sold £50m in goods to Cameroon in 2019. 

UK – Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

The UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement, having been ratified by both parties, enters into force, marking an important step towards reaching an agreement with the whole East African Community.UK Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Kenya, Theo Clarke and Cabinet Secretary for Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development, Betty Maina, today exchanged ratification documents at an official ceremony to mark the entry into force of the UK-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement. The event was witnessed by UK High Commissioner to Kenya Jane Marriott, Principal Secretary Johnson Weru among other officials from the UK and Kenya delegation. The deal which was signed in London by International Trade Minister Ranil Jayawardena and Cabinet Secretary for Trade, Betty Maina in December 2020, will ensure that all companies operating in Kenya can continue to benefit from duty-free access to the UK market. It will support jobs and economic development in Kenya, as well as avoid possible disruption to UK businesses who will be able to continue to import Kenyan products duty and quote free, such as fresh vegetables and flowers. 

India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA).

India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement has entered into force from 01 April 2021. Please click here to refer the list of products subject to preferential duty rates. The pact covers 310 export items for India, including food and beverages, agricultural products, textile and textile articles, base metals, electricals and electronic item, plastics and chemicals, and wood. 

Vietnam-UK trade deal to officially take effect from May

Vietnam will announce to the UK side its ratification of the UK-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) this month, so the deal can officially come into force from May 1. According to the European-American Market Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the ministry has promptly and closely coordinated with the UK in the signing and completion of necessary procedures in order to put the pact in place as soon as possible. The Vietnamese Government’s recent adoption of a resolution ratifying the UKVFTA will see the deal, which temporarily took effect from January 1, become officially effective.