The following is a press release from Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada dated November 17, 2009.

The Honourable Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board, on behalf of the Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, today introduced legislation to implement the Canada-Jordan free trade agreement (FTA) and related agreements on labour cooperation and the environment.

“Farmers know that our government is working hard to open up markets around the world so that they can sell more products to more customers,” said Minister Ritz. “We are building a strong relationship between Canada and Jordan, and today’s announcement will boost the bottom line for Canadian farm families.”

“The Canada-Jordan FTA, once implemented, will open doors to this growing economy and give Canada a foothold in the broader Middle East and North African market,” said Minister Day.

Upon implementation, the FTA will eliminate tariffs on over 99 percent (by value) of recent Canadian exports to Jordan, directly benefiting Canadian exporters. Key sectors in Canada that will benefit from this immediate duty-free access include forestry, manufacturing, and agricultural products and agri-food such as pulses, frozen potato products and beef. Canadian companies are global leaders in these sectors.

The parallel agreements on labour and environment will help ensure progress on labour rights and environmental protection.

The agreement on labour cooperation commits both countries to respecting the core labour principles and rights of the International Labour Organization’s 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

The agreement on the environment commits the two parties to pursuing high levels of environmental protection, enforcing their domestic environmental laws effectively and ensuring that they do not relax these laws to encourage trade or investment.

In less than four years, the Government of Canada has opened doors to Canadian business by concluding new free trade agreements with the states of the European Free Trade Association (Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein), Colombia, Peru, Jordan and Panama.

Two-way merchandise trade between Canada and Jordan totalled $92 million in 2008.

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This announcement is another indication of the federal government's ever expanding effort to further increase our trade relationships beyond our traditional trading activity within North America.