Article N-01 of the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) establishes a Free Trade Commission, made up of cabinet-level representatives, to meet yearly to supervise the implementation of the Agreement, oversee its further elaboration, seek to resolve disputes about the interpretation of the Agreement, supervise the work of the committees and working groups, and consider any other matters that may affect the operation of the Agreement.
The first meeting of the Free Trade Commission took place in Santiago de Chile in January 1998. As agreed in Annex O-03.1 a bilateral double taxation agreement was concluded. At the second meeting, in November 1999, Ministers agreed to accelerate tariff elimination on a range of products. This was done through the First Additional Protocol to the Free Trade Agreement, signed on 4 November 1999, which sets out a list of goods for each Party whose tariff elimination would be accelerated, and would be free of customs duties as of January 1, 2000. Goods listed for tariff acceleration included turkey poults, turkey hatching eggs, feed peas, fresh or chilled tomatoes, peaches, plums, sloes, certain colour pigments, certain articles of plastic and a number of textile products. Tariff acceleration is provided for in Article C-02(3). The Commission also agreed upon Model Rules of Procedure for Chapter N (Institutional Arrangements and Dispute Settlement Procedures).
The third Free Trade Commission meeting took place on 10 May, 2001. At this meeting, the Parties agreed upon appropriate compensation for a safeguard measure that had been imposed on Canadian wheat by Chile. This was formalized by a second additional protocol to the free trade agreement, signed on 4 January 2002, which provides for compensatory tariff acceleration on imports of Canadian French fried potatoes, dried beans and peas, and pet food.
At the Commission's fourth meeting, held in Quito, Ecuador, in October 2002, the Parties issued notes of interpretation of certain provisions of the Investment Chapter. Through these notes, the Parties commit to openness and transparency in the investor-state dispute settlement process and clarify the interpretation of the provision governing the minimum standard of treatment to be accorded to foreign investors. The Commission also established a bilateral Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, and instructed officials to continue exploratory analysis, on the margins of the FTAA, of the potential benefits of addressing issues relating to government procurement in the CCFTA Customs Subcommittee. The Parties also reaffirmed their commitment to work together in the negotiations of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA).
On 8 November 2004 the Third Additional Protocol to the FTA was signed, amending Chile's tariff reduction list. The fifth meeting of the Free Trade Commission took place in November 2004. Ministers encouraged further progress on the negotiation of a government procurement chapter to be added to the Free Trade Agreement and also encouraged officials to continue working on a basis for addressing financial services disciplines within the CCFTA. They agreed on a number of technical rectifications to the rules of origin reflecting amendments to Parties' tariff schedules as a result of the implementation of the HS 2002.
A number of additional protocols to the Free Trade Agreement have been issued, the first at the second meeting of the Free Trade Commission; the second in January 2002, and the third in November 2004
The Canada-Chile Free Trade Commission is also madated to recommend rectifications to the rules of origin annexes and regulations. Both Parties implemented the technical rectifications to the rules of origin and regulations on 1 January 2005.
Canada and Chile have negotiated an additional chapter on Government Procurement which has not yet entered into force.
Additional Chapters to the Agreement |
| Chapter on Government Procurement |
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Part Three bis - Government Procurement
Chapter K bis - Government Procurement  
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| Source: Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada |
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