In brief
The Canada-United Kingdom Trade Continuity Agreement (Canada-UK TCA) replicates the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) on a bilateral basis. The Canada-UK TCA (signed December 2020) came into force from 1 January 2021 and aims to maintain the status quo in the trade relationship.
As a result, regulators in the UK and Canada will continue to accept batch testing and good manufacturing practice (GMP) certificates on a temporary basis, whilst domestic ratification procedures are underway in the UK and Canada to put a bespoke, comprehensive free trade agreement in place.
The Canada-UK TCA has been jointly agreed upon by the MHRA (UK regulator) and Health Canada’s Regulatory Operations and Enforcement Branch, accepting manufacturer’s batch testing certificates and avoiding re-control of that batch at import.
Agreements such as the Canada-UK TCA avoid disruption to trade. Before Brexit, the UK was automatically part of any EU trade deal. When the UK left, the EU had approximately 40 trade deals covering more than 70 countries. As of January 2021 the UK has made deals to continue trading in the same way with 60 of these countries, with talks ongoing in regards to a further six countries.
For more information please Harriet Jupp, Magda Tovar or Julia Gillert of our London office.
