techUK and TECHNATION Canada publish joint statement on UK-Canada FTA negotiations

techUK and TECHNATION Canada have today published a joint statement on the ongoing UK-Canada FTA negotiations.

We believe our two countries have a unique opportunity to establish a new global benchmark for a modern, comprehensive trade agreement, with technology and innovation at its heart.

The UK and the Canadian governments share an ambition to conclude a state-of-the-art agreement on digital trade that breaks new ground and sets a new path for future international trade. To achieve this level of ambition, a Canada-UK Trade Agreement must incorporate the modern principles of digital trade, in particular, those that:

• Strengthen data flows and prohibit data localization;

• Prohibit tariffs and customs formalities on electronic transmissions and enshrine non-discriminatory treatment of digital products;

• Ensure protection of personal data, taking into account best international practices for privacy and interoperability;

• Expand good regulatory practices for digital trade, as well as regulatory cooperation, including as a means to promote emerging technologies like AI and machine learning;

• Promote governmental cooperation and risk-based approaches to cybersecurity;

• Prohibit requirements to disclose source code, algorithms, and proprietary information relating to cryptography;

• Establish limitations to intermediary liability for users and suppliers of interactive computer services to support and safeguard digital supply chains, while creating the mechanisms for regulatory cooperation on creating safe and secure online spaces.

• Facilitate access to and use of open public data in minable, machine-readable formats to spur adoption of AI and other emerging technologies;

• Enshrine acceptance of electronic contracts, electronic trust services (e.g. electronic signatures and electronic seals) and electronic authentication, and invoices;

• Establish commitments to advance the interoperability of digital identities and further support their development through regulatory dialogues;

• Encourage cooperation between standards bodies in Canada and the UK to promote the development, use and adoption of international standards to support digital trade;

• Use digital trade provisions to support effective climate action and smooth the path to the adoption of climate mitigating technologies;

• Include an innovation chapter to create further opportunities for cooperation in science and technology; and

• Establish commitments on digital inclusion, addressing barriers in accessing and benefiting from opportunities, in particular for women and other equality-seeking groups who face disproportionate barriers to digital trade.

For further details,  please consult the full statement here. techUK members who have any questions about this, can reach out to [email protected].

Sabina Ciofu

Associate Director – International, techUK

Sabina Ciofu is Associate Director – International, running the International Policy and Trade Programme at techUK.

Based in Brussels, she leads our EU policy and engagement. She is also our lead on international trade policy, with a focus on digital trade chapter in FTAs, regulatory cooperation as well as broader engagement with the G7, G20, WTO and OECD.

As a transatlanticist at heart, Sabina is a GMF Marshall Memorial fellow and issue-lead on the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, within DigitalEurope.

Previously, she worked as Policy Advisor to a Member of the European Parliament for almost a decade, where she specialised in tech regulation, international trade and EU-US relations.

Sabina loves building communities and bringing people together. She is the founder of the Gentlewomen’s Club and co-organiser of the Young Professionals in Digital Policy. Previously, as a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community, she led several youth civic engagement and gender equality projects.

She sits on the Advisory Board of the University College London European Institute, Café Transatlantique, a network of women in transatlantic technology policy and The Nine, Brussels’ first members-only club designed for women.

Sabina holds an MA in War Studies from King’s College London and a BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge.

Email:

[email protected]

Phone:

+32 473 323 280

Website:

www.techuk.org

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