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ABSTRACT
Scepticism towards trade liberalisation, and regional and global trade integration has been observed in recent years, driven by concerns that the benefits of globalisation have not been fairly distributed. In this context, Canada has introduced it's “Progressive Trade Agenda” (PTA) to enhance Canadians’ understanding of the benefits that trade can bring, and to ensure that these benefits accrue to all Canadians. Although there exist challenges with the way Canada's PTA is currently understood, particularly beyond Canadian borders, the central argument of this article is that the concept can provide important insights from an African perspective. The article provides insights on how Canada can engage with Africa to support monitoring the implementation of the recently signed African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, with a view to ensuring inclusive gains, in addition to highlighting opportunities for Canada in a rapidly expanding and integrated African market.
RÉSUMÉ
Un scepticisme à l'égard de la libéralisation des échanges et de l'intégration du commerce régional et mondial a été observé ces dernières années, motivé par la crainte que les avantages de la mondialisation n'aient pas été équitablement répartis. Dans ce contexte, le Canada a lancé son programme commercial progressif (PCP) afin de mieux faire comprendre aux Canadiens les avantages que le commerce peut apporter et de faire en sorte que ces avantages profitent à tous les Canadiens. Bien que la façon dont le PCP du Canada est actuellement compris soulève des interrogations, en particulier au‐delà des frontières du pays, l'argument central de cet article est que le concept peut fournir des informations importantes d'un point de vue africain. L'article donne un aperçu de la façon dont le Canada peut s'engager avec l'Afrique pour soutenir le suivi de la mise en œuvre de l'accord de zone de libre‐échange continentale africaine (ZLECAF) récemment signé, en vue d'assurer des gains inclusifs, tout en mettant l'accent sur les opportunités pour le Canada dans un marché africain intégré et en expansion.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Lily Sommer is a Trade Policy Expert at the African Trade Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Her research is on African trade policy with a focus on the linkages between trade and industrialization, poverty and gender. She has published widely in the fields of development and trade economics, in particular on issues related to the continental free trade area, smart trade and industrial policy and the sustainable development goals. Ms. Sommer holds a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Sciences and a BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge.
David Luke is Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre at the UN Economic Commission for Africa with the rank of a director at the Commission. He is responsible for leading ECA's research, policy advisory services, training and capacity development on inclusive trade policies and in particular the boosting intra-African trade and the continental free trade area initiatives. His portfolio also includes WTO, EPAs, Brexit, AGOA, Africa's trade with emerging economies, and trade and cross-cutting policy areas such as trade, industrialization and structural transformation, trade and gender, trade and public health and trade and climate change. Prior to joining ECA in 2014, he served as UNDP trade policy adviser in Southern Africa and Geneva and also as Senior Economist and Chief of Trade at the Organization for African Unity/African Union Commission, and as an Associate Professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.
Notes
1 The US accounted for $307.9 billion of Canada's merchandise exports in 2016, which is equivalent to 79.1 percent of Canada's total merchandise exports (calculations using UNCTAD Stat. Accessed 7 June 2018).
2 For example, in June 2017 Francois-Philippe Champagne attended the 2017 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris to advance a PTA and reinforce Canada's leadership in inclusive and sustainable trade and investment. In addition, the inclusion of provisions on gender in Canada's recent trade agreement with Chile is being carefully studied around the world for possible broader application.
3 The theme of the 2017 WTO Public Forum asked how we can we look beyond aggregate growth and income gains to ensure that trade is more inclusive and works for all.
4 See Global Affairs Canada (Citation2017b).
5 In the 2017 Canada's State of Trade: Trade and Investment Update, progressive trade was defined as “doing everything possible to ensure that all segments of society … can take advantage of the economic opportunities owing from trade and investment” (Global Affairs Canada Citation2017c).
6 In September 2017, the European Commission (EC) issued a new trade package including a Communication on "A Progressive Trade Policy to Harness Globalisation". This policy paper outlines the EU trade priorities for the next couple of years and calls for the EU to deliver effective arrangements through a negotiating process that is accountable, transparent and inclusive. In order to achieve this, the Commission has decided to create an advisory group on EU trade negotiations consisting of representatives of a wide and balanced group of stakeholders, ranging from trade unions, employers’ organisations, consumer groups and other non-governmental organisations (European Commission Citation2017).
7 The unwillingness of some countries to go too deeply with a PTA agenda was one of the reasons for the sudden postponement of an announcement on the TPP in November 2017. The new version of the TPP (excluding the United States) is now the “Comprehensive and Progressive TPP”.
8 The agreement will enter into force once 22 African countries have ratified the deal, and given the current momentum behind the project, this process is expected to be swift and smooth.
9 See Article 3. General Objectives, Agreement Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area.
10 In February 2016 the Third World Network (TWN) co-hosted with ECA a Colloquium on “AfCFTA: Internal Challenges and Threats and a Civil Society Strategy Meeting on Advocacy Around Africa's Trade and Development”. The meetings brought together CSOs from across the continent, the AU and academia, to discuss the role of civil society in the AfCFTA negotiation process with the aim of creating an Action Plan for CSO engagement. The 2016 Africa Trade Week organized by the AU, ECA, African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) also provided a pan-African platform for promoting and enhancing multi-stakeholder trade policy advocacy and dialogue consistent with the goals of the AfCFTA, and included a number of events related to the gender and human rights impacts of the AfCFTA.
11 African Conference of Ministers Resolution 960(LI) on “Harnessing the potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area and creating fiscal space for jobs and economic diversification”.
12 The African Trade Observatory envisaged under the AfCFTA is also expected to provide useful data for monitoring AfCFTA impacts, including gender disaggregated data.
13 Between 1988 and 1999 the committee studied and monitored the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It recommended that the government pay special attention to adjustment assistance, control of energy exports, trade in agricultural products, application of the provisions allowing temporary entry for business people, and negotiations on the adoption of a countervailing duties and anti-dumping code. In recent years the committee has considered legislation implementing trade agreements with a number of countries such as South Korea, Honduras, Panama and Peru.
14 In fact, GAC already provides financial support to Trade Facilitation Office (TFO) Canada, a non-profit organisation that aims to support trade development in low income countries as part of the effort to reduce global poverty. The emphasis is on promoting sustainable development through market access and export information services, trade capacity building, advice and contact. TFO Canada has helped to facilitate trade for over 900 exporters from developing countries, many of which are in Africa.