Discussion & Information Session: The Canada European Union Comprehensive Trade Agreement
Thursday, May 12th, 2016, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Business Boardroom (BN4000), Business Building, St. John's Campus
Attend in person or by webinar!
Canada and the European Union signed the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in the fall of 2014. The agreement is Canada’s most ambitious trade initiative, broader in scope and deeper in ambition than the historic North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). When implemented, CETA will eliminate tariffs on Newfoundland and Labrador goods entering the EU market and position service companies to take advantage of unprecedented access to the European marketplace. However, the agreement has raised some questions about the overall impact on the Province.
Join us for an information and discussion session led by Canada’s and Newfoundland and Labrador’s lead negotiators for the agreement.
In early 2009, Steve Verheul was appointed Canada’s Chief Trade Negotiator for negotiations between Canada and the European Union, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Prior to that appointment, he worked at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada from 1989 to 2009, where he worked on the NAFTA negotiations, the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations that led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Doha Round of WTO negotiations. He was Canada’s Chief Agriculture Negotiator from 2003 to 2009, responsible for leading Canada’s involvement in international trade negotiations on agriculture, including the WTO. Mr. Verheul graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 1984, after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science.
Jeff Loder joined the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2010 to negotiate the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Mr. Loder was the province’s lead negotiator for CETA and is the current lead negotiator for the re-negotiation of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT) and Director for Trade Policy for the Department of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development (BTCRD). Mr. Loder graduated from Memorial University in 2006, after obtaining a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Arts degree in Political Science. He has also studied at McMaster University and the University of Leiden.
Watch live at 2:00 pm here.