Agri-Food Trade Policy

Canada-European Free Trade Association Free Trade Agreement

Free trade negotiations with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states (i.e., Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) were launched on October 9, 1998. The negotiations were concluded on June 7, 2007. The Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was signed on January 26, 2009, and came into force on July 1, 2009.

This goods-focused agreement consists of a main FTA covering industrial goods and three bilateral agreements on agriculture with Norway, Iceland and Switzerland (including Liechtenstein).

The EFTA is Canada's eight-largest merchandise export destination. Canadian exports of agri-food products reached $77.0 million to Switzerland (mainly horse meat and durum wheat), $44.1 million to Norway (mainly soybeans) and $6.5 million to Iceland (mainly corn and frozen French fries) (when?). In 2011, Canada imported $191.2 million from Switzerland (mainly chocolate and food preparations containing chocolate, non-alcoholic beverages and cheese), $16.0 million from Norway (mainly cheese), and $725,750 from Iceland (mainly artificial mineral and aerated waters).

Several Canadian agriculture exports now enter EFTA markets duty-free since implementation of the agreement while others receive a margin of preference below the generally applied tariff rate (e.g., durum wheat, frozen French fries, crude canola oil, pet food and frozen blueberries). Lower tariffs for a number of Processed Agricultural Products (PAP), on par with those that apply to the European Union, allow Canadian exporters to compete on an equal footing with exporters of these products from the European Union receiving similar preferential access.


Relevant Sites:


For more information, please contact:

Denis Landreville
Lead Negotiator (Regional Agreements)
Tel: 613-773-1761
Fax: 613-773-1755
E-mail: denis.landreville@agr.gc.ca