The provisional application of the Comprehensive Economic Trade agreement between the EU and Canada (CETA) is expected to boost trade considerably between the two regions, ECSA noted, hailing the agreement.
According to European Shipowners, CETA will cut customs duties and open new markets for shipping companies, such as dredging, movement of empty containers and certain transportation between Canadian ports.
As President of ECSA Niels Smedegaard explained, shipping needs global trade to exist and this cannot happen without an efficient shipping industry. Around 80% of world trade in goods is carried by the international shipping industry and European shipowners control 40% of the world’s merchant fleet and operate shipping services all over the world.
“It is important for the EU to sign ambitious trade agreements such as CETA, especially in the current political climate where global and open trade is put under pressure. We therefore were pleased to hear European Commission President Mr Juncker’s plan to strenghten Europe’s trade agenda, announced last week in his State of the Union Address. As representatives of one of the most globalised European businesses we could not agree more”, he said.
