(a) facilitating the exchange of best practices concerning public policies and programs, including on: improving SMEs' access to capital and credit, including government financing instruments; SMEs' cyber security; and the collection and analysis of gender-disaggregated data;
(b) promoting cooperation between the Parties' small business support infrastructure to create an international network for sharing best practices, developing SMEs' capacity and culture, including SMEs' entrepreneurs, exchanging market research, and promoting SME participation in international trade, and business growth in local markets and enhancing integration into global value chains;
(c) encouraging SMEs' participation in platforms, such as web-based platforms, for business entrepreneurs and counsellors to share information and best practices to help SMEs link with international suppliers, buyers, and other potential business partners;
(d) supporting SMEs' digital-related skills development to enhance their participation in electronic commerce and digital trade in order to take advantage of the opportunities resulting from this Agreement and rapidly access new markets;
(e) promoting the organization of trade promotion networks and business forums, and the joint implementation of seminars, conferences, symposiums, business roundtables, or other related activities to explore business, industrial, and technical opportunities, and to inform SMEs of the benefits available to them under this Agreement;
(f) improving SMEs' access to, and participation, leadership, and entrepreneurship in, science, technology, and innovation related to business and trade, including education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business; and
(g) exchanging information and best practices on SME-related cybersecurity programs, cybersecurity and privacy regulations, standards, controls, and conformity assessment measures to improve SMEs' cybersecurity posture.
5. The Parties may endeavor to collaborate within existing international forums to promote and advance the interests of SMEs and their participation in international trade and investment.
Article 24.4. Committee on SMEs
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on SMEs (hereafter the "Committee"), composed of representatives from each Party.
2. The Committee shall:
(a) identify ways to assist SMEs of each Party to take advantage of the commercial opportunities under this Agreement;
(b) exchange and discuss experiences and best practices in supporting and assisting SME exporters with respect to, among other things, training programs, trade education, trade finance, trade missions, trade facilitation, electronic commerce and digital trade, cooperative business practices, identifying commercial partners in the other Party, and establishing good business credentials;
(c) review and coordinate the Committee's work program with the work of other committees, subcommittees, and contact points;
(d) review the implementation and operation of this Chapter and SME-related provisions within this Agreement and report findings and make recommendations to the Joint Commission that can be included in future work and SME assistance programs as appropriate; and
(e) consider any other matter pertaining to SMEs as the Committee may decide, including issues raised by SMEs regarding their ability to benefit from this Agreement.
3. The Committee shall meet as mutually decided by the Parties. Committee meetings may be held in person, by videoconference, by telephone, or by other means.
4. The Committee may seek to collaborate with appropriate experts, international donor organizations, SMEs, including workers, and business advocacy representatives and associations, in developing and carrying out its programs and activities.
Article 24.5. Non-Application of Dispute Settlement
A Party shall not have recourse to dispute settlement under Chapter 28 (Dispute Settlement) for any matter arising under this Chapter.
Chapter 25. Trade and Indigenous Peoples
Article 25.1. General Provisions
1. For the purposes of this Chapter, Indigenous Peoples means:
(a) for Canada, Aboriginal peoples (including First Nations, Inuit, and MĂ©tis peoples) as defined in subsection 35(2) of the Constitution Act, 1982 of Canada;
(b) for Ukraine, Karaite, Crimean Tatar, and Krymchak, including those based on the Crimean Peninsula.
2. The Parties recognize that the history of Indigenous Peoples in Canada and the history of Indigenous Peoples in Ukraine, including those found on the Crimean Peninsula, set the unique context for the domestic policies of each Party.
3. The Parties further recognize that since Indigenous Peoples have been engaged in trade since time immemorial, trade is fundamental to Indigenous histories, identities, cultural heritage, and economic prosperity.
4. The Parties acknowledge that international trade and investment contribute to sustainable development, innovation and prosperity, and that improving Indigenous Peoples' access to international trade and investment opportunities will enhance their ability to participate in and benefit from economic activity, including trade and investment.
5. The Parties commit to implementing constructive, innovative, and inclusive practices to ensure that Indigenous Peoples have access to the benefits of this Agreement.
6. The Parties affirm that effective coordination and implementation of policies, programs, and projects, including the identification and removal of barriers to trade and increasing international trade and investment opportunities for, by, and between Indigenous Peoples, can further contribute to sustainable economic development and the ability of Indigenous Peoples to participate in and benefit from economic activity.
7. The Parties acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples have the right to maintain and develop their economic systems and institutions, and to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities in a manner consistent with the law of each Party.
8. The Parties affirm that Indigenous Peoples have the right to all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including those recognized under the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
9. The Parties affirm that Indigenous Peoples have the right to be free from discrimination and the right to enjoy fully all rights recognized under applicable international or domestic law, including with respect to their participation in international trade.
10. Each Party recalls its commitment to implement the multilateral environmental agreements to which it is a Party.
11. The Parties acknowledge the importance of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the importance of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals given their relevance to Indigenous Peoples, including how they relate to the protection of lands, waters, and natural resources, and how they support the conditions for sustainable and inclusive economic development.
Article 25.2. Non-Derogation
A Party shall not weaken or reduce protections for Indigenous Peoples in its laws and regulations, so as to encourage international trade and investment between the Parties, or between the Parties and any other economy.
Article 25.3. Responsible Business Conduct
1. Each Party shall encourage businesses operating within its territory or subject to its jurisdiction to incorporate into their internal policies and practices the internationally recognized standards, guidelines, and principles of responsible business conduct that have been endorsed, supported, or are observed by the Party.
2. The Parties recognize that it is imperative that businesses operating within their territory or subject to their jurisdiction respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples that are recognized and affirmed within this Agreement and under international or domestic law.
Article 25.4. Cooperation Activities to Facilitate Indigenous Peoples' Participation In International Trade and Investment
1. The Parties acknowledge the importance of implementing measures to foster and enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in domestic and international economic activity.
2. The Parties shall facilitate the exchange of experiences and shall implement cooperation activities to promote and enhance Indigenous Peoples' participation in international trade and investment, including government procurement opportunities.
3. The Parties shall endeavor to engage in ongoing bilateral discussions to undertake cooperation activities guided by the following principles:
(a) respect and partnership;
(b) equity, diversity, and gender balance;
(c) accountability and transparency; and
(d) openness, flexibility, and pragmatism.
4. The Parties recognize the importance of undertaking cooperation activities that are designed to facilitate dialogue, and to enhance the ability of Indigenous-owned businesses to fully access and benefit from the opportunities created by this Agreement.
5. The Parties shall jointly facilitate cooperation activities while engaging with Indigenous Peoples, as appropriate, so that the opportunities created by this Agreement may more effectively support the objectives, priorities, and interests of Indigenous Peoples. These cooperation activities may include:
(a) considering ways to facilitate the engagement of Indigenous Peoples in international trade and investment, including programs designed to encourage capacity building and skills enhancement, such as digital skills;
(b) supporting Indigenous Peoples in identifying barriers to their participation in international trade and investment, and in designing strategies to remove those barriers;
(c) considering ways to improve access to capital and financing, including export financing;
(d) exchanging best practices on promoting successful, innovative, and environmentally sustainable Indigenous-owned businesses;
(e) supporting Indigenous Peoples in their use of e-commerce to sell Indigenous products and services domestically and internationally;
(f) promoting businesses owned by Indigenous women, including activities to support the internationalization of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, including cooperatives and social enterprises;
(g) fostering Indigenous business leadership and networks;
(h) exploring opportunities to facilitate each Party's work in developing and enhancing export counselling, assistance, and training programs for Indigenous owned-businesses;
(i) exchanging information, expertise, and best practices on facilitating access to existing supply chains for Indigenous-owned businesses and the promotion and development of Indigenous supply chains;
(j) considering ways to encourage businesses to seek products and services from Indigenous-owned businesses; and
(k) any other issue as decided by the Parties.
6. The Parties may invite international institutions, businesses, non-governmental organizations, or other relevant institutions, as appropriate, to assist with the development and implementation of cooperation activities under this Article.
7. Within one year of the date of entry into force of this Agreement, each Party shall endeavor to establish a webpage with information to promote awareness of the opportunities created by this Agreement for Indigenous Peoples, including a list of activities planned or undertaken under this Article, and will regularly update and maintain the webpage, as appropriate.
8. The Parties may cooperate, as appropriate, in international and multilateral forums to advance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in international trade, including at the WTO.
Article 25.5. Committee on Trade and Indigenous Peoples
1. The Parties hereby establish a Committee on Trade and Indigenous Peoples (the "Trade and Indigenous Peoples Committee") composed of representatives from each Party, responsible for matters covered by this Chapter. As appropriate, each Party may wish to invite representatives of Indigenous institutions, including Indigenous rights holders and partners.
2. The purpose of the Trade and Indigenous Peoples Committee is to oversee the implementation of this Chapter, and its functions may include:
(a) providing a forum to discuss and review any matters related to the operation and implementation of this Chapter;
(b) providing coordination and oversight of the cooperation activities under Article 25.4;
(c) working with other committees, working groups, and subsidiary bodies established under this Agreement to ensure that Indigenous Peoples can benefit fully from this Agreement;
(d) preparing and making publicly available, on an annual basis, a report with respect to its activities under this Chapter;
(e) providing recommendations, if necessary, to the Joint Commission; and
(f) performing any other functions that the Parties may decide.
3. The Trade and Indigenous Peoples Committee shall meet in person or by any other technological means available within one year of the date of entry into force of this Agreement, and thereafter as decided by the Parties to consider any matters arising under this Chapter.
Article 25.6. Provisions In the Agreement That Benefit Indigenous Peoples
The Parties recognize that there are provisions in other Chapters of this Agreement that seek to enhance cooperation between the Parties on Indigenous economic issues or that otherwise may contribute to further enhance the participation of Indigenous Peoples in international trade and investment opportunities derived from this Agreement. These include: Chapter 10 (Designated Monopolies and State-Owned Enterprises); Chapter 11 (Government Procurement); Chapter 13 (Environment); Chapter 17 (Investment); and Chapter 29 (Exceptions).
Article 25.7. Dispute Settlement
A Party shall not have recourse to dispute settlement under Chapter 28 (Dispute Settlement) for any matter arising under this Chapter.
Chapter 26. Good Regulatory Practices
Article 26.1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Chapter:
covered regulatory measures means the regulatory measures determined by each Party to be covered by this Chapter under Article 26.3; and
regulatory authority means a regulation making authority at the central level of government.
Article 26.2. General Provisions
1. For the purposes of this Chapter, good regulatory practices refers to the use of best practices in the preparation, planning, designing, issuing, adoption, implementation, performance monitoring, and review of regulatory measures in order to facilitate the achievement of public policy objectives.
2. The Parties recognize that implementation of government-wide practices to promote regulatory quality through greater transparency, objective analysis, accountability, and predictability, which are based on principles of the public regulatory policy of the Party and can facilitate international trade, investment, and economic growth, while contributing to each Party's ability to achieve its public policy objectives (including health, safety, and environmental objectives) at the level of protection it considers appropriate.
3. Regulatory authorities of the Parties shall endeavour to enhance cooperation and to prevent, reduce, or eliminate unnecessary regulatory requirements to facilitate trade and promote economic growth, while maintaining or enhancing standards of public health and safety and environmental protection.
4. The Parties affirm the importance of:
(a) maintaining and enhancing the benefits of cooperation promoted by the Parties under this Agreement through good regulatory practices that facilitate increased trade in goods and services, as well as investment between the Parties;
(b) each Party's right to identify its regulatory priorities and to establish and implement regulatory measures to address these priorities, in areas and by the levels of government that the Party considers appropriate;
(c) pursuing its public policy objectives (including health, safety, and environmental objectives) at the level it considers to be appropriate;
(d) taking into account input from interested persons in the development of regulatory measures;
(e) developing measures to foster cooperation and capacity building of the Parties; and
(f) taking measures to minimize unintended inequities or disparities within and between groups of people likely to be impacted by a proposed regulatory measure particularly women and Indigenous Peoples, as well as impacts on the environment.
Article 26.3. Scope of Application
Each Party shall, no later than two years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, determine and make publically available the regulatory measures covered by this Chapter (covered regulatory measures) in accordance with its own legislation. Each Party should aim to provide significant coverage of regulatory measures it determines to be covered under this paragraph.
Article 26.4. Internal Coordination of Regulatory Development
1. The Parties recognize that good regulatory practices can be encouraged through mechanisms that facilitate coordination among regulatory authorities and are associated with processes for the development and review of covered regulatory measures. Accordingly, each Party shall endeavour to maintain the existence of such mechanisms or processes and should maintain the coordination of them through their central regulatory coordinating bodies in accordance with their mandates and consistent with the Party's law.
2. The Parties recognize that the mechanisms or processes referred to in paragraph 1 may vary depending on their differences in the levels of economic development, and the political and institutional structures, in each Party.
3. Each Party should make descriptions of the operation of these mechanisms or processes referred to in paragraph 1 publicly available.
4. Each Party should ensure that its mechanisms or processes referred to in paragraph 1 allow for:
(a) reviewing the covered regulatory measures proposed by the Party in order to determine whether the Party has considered good regulatory practices in the preparation of the measures, and making recommendations based on the review of the regulatory measures;
(b) strengthening consultation and coordination among regulatory authorities in order to identify potential overlap and duplication between proposed and existing regulations, and prevent inconsistent requirements between the proposed and existing regulations;
(c) making recommendations for regulatory improvements;
(d) reporting to the public on covered regulatory measures that have been reviewed under subparagraph (a) and on any proposals for government‑wide regulatory improvement, as well as updates on changes to the processes and mechanisms referred to in paragraph 1; and
(e) encouraging regulatory approaches that avoid unnecessary restrictions on competition in the marketplace.
Article 26.5. Early Planning
Each party should, in a manner it considers appropriate and in accordance with its laws and regulations, notify the public, on an annual basis, of any regulatory measure that it reasonably expects its regulatory authorities to issue within a 12-month period.
Article 26.6. Regulatory Impact Assessment
1. Each Party shall endeavour to encourage its regulatory authorities, in accordance with its laws and regulations, to conduct regulatory impact assessments when developing proposed regulatory measures that exceed a threshold of economic impact or meet other criteria established by the Party for an assessment, to assist it in designing regulatory measures that best achieve the objectives pursued by that Party.
2. Recognizing that differences in the Parties' institutional, social, cultural, legal, and developmental circumstances may result in specific regulatory approaches, each Party should ensure that the regulatory impact assessment, among other things:
(a) assesses the need for a proposed regulatory measure, that includes a description of the nature and significance of the problem addressed by the measure;
(b) examines feasible alternatives to the proposed regulatory measure, including, to the extent possible and in accordance with its laws and regulations, the corresponding benefits and costs of the proposed regulatory measure and feasible alternatives, including the relevant impacts, such as economic, social, environmental, public health, and safety effects, and the risks and distributional effects over time of the proposed regulatory measure and feasible alternatives, recognizing that some costs and benefits are difficult to quantify or monetize;
(c) explains the reasons for concluding that the alternative does not achieve the policy objectives in an efficient manner, including, if appropriate, reference to the costs and benefits and the potential for managing risks; and
(d) relies on the best reasonably available information including relevant scientific, technical, economic, or other information, within the boundaries of the authority, mandate, capacity, and resources of the particular regulatory agency.
3. When conducting regulatory impact assessments, each Party should ensure that its regulatory authorities take into consideration the potential impacts of the proposed regulation on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Article 26.7. Public Consultations and Transparency
1. When preparing a regulatory measure, each Party should endeavour to:
(a) publish the proposed regulatory measure on a government website that is freely and publicly available and that would allow any person to assess whether and how its interests might be significantly affected;
(b) publish the regulatory impact assessment associated with the proposed regulatory measure on a government website that is freely and publicly available; and
(c) offer reasonable opportunities for any person, on a non-discriminatory basis, to provide input on the proposed regulatory measure.
2. When a proposed regulatory measure is expected to have a significant impact on international trade, the Party should normally provide a comment period of at least 60 days from the date that the proposed regulatory measure is published and, if appropriate, provide a comment period of up to 90 days from the date when the proposed regulatory measure is published.
3. Each Party shall take into account input received during the comment period on the proposed regulatory measure, and make publicly available a summary of the results of public consultations, subject to the need to protect confidential information or to withhold personal data or inappropriate content.
4. Before finalizing its work on a regulation, a regulatory authority of a Party shall evaluate any information provided to it in writing during the comment period.
Article 26.8. Use of Plain Language
Each Party should ensure that proposed and final regulatory measures are plainly written, concise, organized, and easy to understand, recognizing that some measures involve technical issues for which specialized knowledge might be required to understand and apply the measures.
Article 26.9. Consideration of other Measures
To the extent appropriate and consistent with its laws and regulations, each Party should encourage its relevant regulatory authorities to consider regulatory measures of the other Party, as well as relevant regulatory developments activities in international, regional, and other forums, when developing covered regulatory measures.
Article 26.10. Public Access
Consistent with its laws and regulations, each Party shall endeavour to ensure that relevant regulatory authorities provide public access to covered regulatory measures and, to the extent possible, ensure that access is available online or through a special web portal designated in its law that is freely and publicly available.
Article 26.11. Retrospective Review
1. Each Party should review its covered regulatory measures at intervals it deems appropriate, to determine whether they should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed, so as to make the regulatory regime of the Party more effective in achieving policy objectives.
2. Each Party should endeavour to publish, to the extent possible, any official plans and results of its review under paragraph 1.
Article 26.12. Cooperation
1. The Parties shall endeavour to cooperate in order to implement this Chapter and maximize the benefits arising from it. Each Party should take into consideration, in the cooperation activities of the Parties, the other Party's needs. Cooperation activities may include:
(a) information exchange, dialogues, or meetings with officials of the other Party;
(b) information exchanges, dialogues, or meetings with interested persons, including SMEs, of the other Party, and with international organizations;
(c) training programs, seminars, and other assistance initiatives;
(d) strengthening cooperation between the regulatory authorities of the Parties; and
(e) other cooperation activities that Parties may decide.
Article 26.13. Report on Implementation and Review
1. For the purposes of transparency, and to serve as a basis for cooperation, each Party shall prepare a report on the implementation of this Chapter within three years of the date of entry into force of this Agreement and submit subsequent reports at least once every three years thereafter. The report shall be provided to the other Party through the Contact Points designated under Article 26.14(1).
2. In the first report under paragraph 1, each Party shall describe the actions it has taken to comply with and implement this Chapter since the date of entry into force of this Agreement and the actions it plans to take in the future to implement this Chapter, including those that:
(a) establish a body, and a mechanism or process to facilitate effective interagency coordination;
(b) review proposed regulatory measures in accordance with Article 26.4;
(c) encourage its regulatory authorities to conduct regulatory impact assessments in accordance with Article 26.6;
(d) ensure that new and existing covered regulatory measures are accessible to the public, in accordance with Article 26.10;
(e) review covered regulatory measures, in accordance with Article 26.11(1); and
(f) make publicly available the annual notice of regulatory measures that it reasonably expects to issue or adopt during the next 12 months, in accordance with Article 26.5.
3. In subsequent reports under paragraph 1, each Party shall describe the actions it has taken since the submission of the previous report, and the actions it plans to take in the future to implement this Chapter.