Dalia Grybauskaitė, šalies prezidentė, pasirašė įstatymus dėl Kanados ir Europos Sąjungos (ES) išsamaus ekonomikos ir prekybos susitarimo bei ES ir Kanados strateginės partnerystės susitarimo ratifikavimo.
Lietuva tapo 9-ąja ES valstybe, ratifikavusia didžiausią ES laisvosios prekybos susitarimą.
Skaičiuojama, kad Lietuvos eksportuotojams šis susitarimas kasmet sutaupys daugiau nei 1 mln. Eur muitų mokesčių. Reikšmingai sumažinus reguliavimo kliūtis, lietuviškus gaminius į Kanadą eksportuoti bus lengviau, o tai ypač naudinga smulkiam ir vidutiniam verslui. Šiuo metu apie 150 Lietuvos įmonių eksportuoja į Kanadą, iš jų net 80% – smulkios ir vidutinės įmonės.
CETA sutartis panaikina 99% muitų tarp ES ir Kanados. CETA po septynerių metų derybų buvo pasirašyta 2016-aisiais. Iš karto po to sutartis laikinai įsigaliojo, tačiau ją turi ratifikuoti visos ES valstybės narės.
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Lithuanian Parliament ratifies CETA
Lithuania’s parliament ratified the EU-Canadian free trade agreement CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade agreement) alongside with adopting a separate statement as regards food safety issues.
The law was passed with 70 votes in favor, 6 against and 14 abstentions. Lawmakers opposing the treaty called for waiting for June 1 when European Court of Justice (EJC) is due to decide whether the EU-Canada trade deal is compatible with EU law.
Vytautas Sinkevicius, Lithuania’s minister of economy, noted that neighboring Latvia was the first in the EU to ratify the treaty and afterwards the Baltic country already arranged at least four business missions to Canada. Meanwhile, only 150 Lithuanian companies are currently active in business with Canada.
Canadian investments in Lithuania amount to marginal 150 million euros (183.46 U.S. dollars), Sinkevicius said.
CETA ratification process at the Lithuanian parliament took eight months.
The parliament also adopted a separate statement of the precautionary principle as regards regulation of GMOs and trade of meat produced using hormones. Similar statements were made by the European Commission and the European Union member states during the signing of CETA.
The EU and Canada signed the free trade agreement in October 2016. According to CETA, both trading sides will fully eliminate tariffs on more than 99 percent of all tariff lines.