The Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) is a free trade agreement between

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

History

It was signed on July 31, 1996, and came into effect on January 1, 1997. It was Canada's first free trade agreement outside of the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

. 80% Tariffs on most manufactured and agricultural goods were eliminated. However, CIFTA does not affect certain agriculture sectors like

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, qu ...

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

and

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

. CIFTA was amended in 2002, 2003 and 2015. On May 27, 2019, Bill C-85 went before parliament to amend CIFTA and received

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

. This most recent amendment was in force from September 1, 2019. The first amendment allows certain products like textiles to undergo some levels of processing in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

without losing their status while in transit. The second amendment further reduced agricultural tariffs. CIFTA's main goals include: *The elimination of trade barriers and tariffs *Promotion of fair competition *The increase of investments between the two nations While Israel is not one of Canada's major trading partners, the Canadian government sought to put Canadian businesses on the same footing as US businesses, who were benefiting from the US-Israel Free Trade Agreement. Bilateral trade increased to $1.24 billion by 2005 .

History of trade balances

Amounts in thousands of Canadian dollars ($CDN).

Exploratory discussions for the modernization

There are a number of ongoing discussions for the modernization of the agreement.

References

External links

Text of the treaty

Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) page
on the Rules of Origin Facilitator, with member countries' status and access to legal documents. {{DEFAULTSORT:Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement

Foreign trade of Israel 1996 in Israel Treaties concluded in 1996 Treaties entered into force in 1997 Canada–Israel relations 1996 in Canada 1996 in Canadian law