IFCCD

It is especially important to take heed of the development of the European Union bilateral trade negotiations, first and foremost, since the European Union now appears determined to append to all its future agreements a Cultural Cooperation Protocol. Such a protocol refers to the UNESCO Convention in order to justify the differential treatment accorded to cultural goods and services in the context of a trade agreement. However, this type of protocol appended to a trade agreement involves several risks for the diversity of cultural expressions.

With the Doha Round negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) continuing to be deadlocked, Canada was back on the bilateral track in 2008, signing four free trade agreements (FTAs) and announcing further negotiations for 2009.

In 2008, the country signed FTAs with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA, which includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) as well as with Peru, Colombia and Jordan.

In recent months, three countries—Costa Rica, Oman and Peru—finally completed all of the steps required for their respective free trade agreements with the United States to enter into force.

Almost four years after it was signed and approved by the Costa Rican population in a narrow referendum win in October 2007, the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the United States and Central America (and the Dominican Republic) finally came into force for Costa Rica on January 1, 2009.