Government of Canada Announces Consultations for the Renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement

On June 3, 2017, the Government of Canada announced the commencement of consultations for the renegotiation and modernization of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and invited concerned parties to make written submissions by July 18, 2017.

One of the key sections of the current agreement on which the government seeks submissions is Chapter 17: Intellectual Property. During negotiations, the US is likely to seek the inclusion of the terms it had previously negotiated to be included in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, namely committing Canada to abide by numerous intellectual property treaties, codifying minimum standards regarding protection of intellectual property for pharmaceuticals, and enhancing the term and scope of copyright protection.

Canada has a reputation for balancing the interests of intellectual property owners and Canadians’ access to affordable goods and services.  In view of Canada’s reputation, and given that Canada has made several important concessions in negotiating the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) (including patent term extension and an end to dual litigation for pharmaceutical products), it may not wish to give further concessions in renegotiating NAFTA.

The Notice of Consultation from Canada Gazette is available here:

http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2017/2017-06-03/html/notice-avis-eng.php#na8

The current text of Chapter 17 of NAFTA is available here:

http://www.sice.oas.org/trade/nafta/chap-171.asp

Summary By: Heather Watts