Ukrainian parliament ratifies updated Canada-Ukraine free trade deal
Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, ratified on April 10 the updated free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine, lawmaker Yaroslav Zhelezniak said.
The original free trade agreement between Canada and Ukraine was signed in 2016 and came into effect a year later, removing most of the customs duties on mutual trade.
During President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Canada in September 2023, an updated deal was signed between the two governments. The Canadian parliament ratified the updated deal between February and March 2024.
Ukraine's Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko called it "one of the most modern trade agreements in the world."
The agreement was a matter of some controversy in Canada, as the opposition Conservative Party voted against it. The party's leader, Pierre Poilievre, claimed that the bill would force Ukraine to adopt a carbon tax.
In turn, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Conservatives of abandoning Ukraine by voting against the deal, an accusation that Poilievre rejected.
The bill does not include such an obligation but says that the two countries should "promote" carbon pricing and mitigation. Ukraine has a carbon tax in place since 2011.
Kateryna Hodunova
