A new agreement signed Wednesday aims to boost trade between provinces and territories.
The British Columbia government said the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement will make it easier for businesses to sell products across Canada.
The agreement says goods that meet the requirements to be sold in one jurisdiction are eligible to be sold across Canada. It applies to the sale of goods ranging from clothing to tires, but does not cover food.
The province said B.C. championed the national initiative.
“This agreement is decades in the making”, said Jobs and Economic Growth Minister Ravi Kahlon. “I’m proud that we finally reached this milestone with B.C.’s leadership.”
The new rules take effect in December.
Bridgitte Anderson, President and CEO at Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, welcomed the new agreement Wednesday.
“For many years, businesses have been held back by a patchwork of rules that can sometimes make it harder to move goods across provincial borders than across international ones,” she said.
She said the move will be especially beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses, who often have to navigate thousands of different rules across jurisdictions to figure out the requirements to sell their goods elsewhere within Canada.
Kahlon said some provinces have raised concerns about removing trade barriers for food, as well as services and labour mobility between provinces. He said B.C. doesn’t share those concerns.
“We believe we can remove these barriers and not compromise on safety,” he said.
James Donaldson, CEO of Food & Beverage BC said he’s happy with the commitments being made, even if food was left out of the agreement.
“I see this as a big domino that’s fallen that actually will maybe lead to further progress,” he said.
Donaldson said he’s not surprised to see food was excluded from the agreement.
“The food industry is very diverse. So if you look at all these different sectors, they’ve all got different regulations and food safety policies in place,” he said. “Until there’s one standard for all of them – just allowing interprovincial trade without ensuring that those safety measures are in place, it puts consumers at risk.”
Jeff Guignard, CEO of Wine Growers British Columbia, also said the agreement is a step in the right direction.
“Unfortunately, this doesn’t address our real problem in the wine industry, that for some reason, it’s easier and more affordable to ship a case of wine from B.C. to Texas than it is to ship directly to a consumer in a place like Alberta,” said Guignard. He pointed to Alberta’s new wine tax introduced this year, as an example.
He said governments need to act soon amid the U.S.-Canada trade war.
“We have this once in a lifetime opportunity where American wines are off the shelf,” said Guignard. “This is an opportunity to bring Canadians together as a country and get them excited about the Canadian wine industry. We cannot do that with these barriers in place.”
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