Guide

Canada – Ukraine Free Trade Agreement: Opportunities for Business

Once implemented, the CUFTA will be an important tool to deepen trade relations with Canada and make Ukrainian exports more competitive on the Canadian market. With a total of 19 Chapters, the CUFTA is a comprehensive free trade agreement, which, apart from tariff elimination and liberalization, contains, inter alia, provisions on rules of origin, competition policy, governmen

1.1

Self-Assessment: Examination of Your Firm’s Readiness to Export to Canada

Once you decide to export to Canada, you should answer the question ‘am I ready to export’? Your export readiness should include at least the following components: Readiness of your company leadership – is your CEO ready to invest in export capacity building? Readiness of your product – can your product successfully compete in Canada? Personal and f

Market Research: Canada

Understanding the Canadian market is a critical step. Before entering the Canadian market, it is essential to ‘get the feeling’ of potential partners and consumers, see who your competitors are and what products they offer and for what price. Thorough market research will show whether selling to Canada will reward invested time and efforts. In theory, market researc

2.1

Canada: Country Profile

Area: 9,976,140 km2 - over 16 times the size of Ukraine! Territorial structure: Federation composed of ten provinces and three territories Currency: Canadian Dollar (CAD$) Type of Government: Constitutional monarchy Number of Time Zones: 6 Weights and Measures: Metric system Population: 35.9 million (2015) - 3/4 of Ukraine! NB! About 4/5 of the population lives within 15

2.2

Find Your Consumers in Canada

Any market involves interactions between buyers and sellers. The buyers as a group determine the demand for your product. Therefore, before selling your product to Canada, you should know to whom you will sell and what needs will your product satisfy. Your initial analysis of Canadian market demand should be focused on at least the following points:[30] Identification of tr

Some Help to Reach Out to Canadian Partner

Export opportunities are transformed into real sales when you find a buyer of your product in Canada. Therefore, in this section we will look at the main tools for finding partners in Canada - from database search to participation in trade shows and company registration in Canada. Other than a simple internet search to identify your potential Canadian partner, there are a numb

3.1

Choosing the Right Marketing Strategy

In reality, there are no “good” or “bad” models and the extent to which you will be successful will depend on the partnership you choose and the analysis you do prior to engaging in a relationship. There is always the question of what volumes you can supply and what kind of growth you can sustain over time. In addition, you will want to have a part

3.2

Trade Shows in Canada

If you are able to physically come to Canada, you should plan to visit or, even better, exhibit at a Canadian trade show. This would be one of the best ways to meet potential buyers and to guage the market by conducting some market research in terms of what products or services are offered on the market and how to position your products in relation to the competition. Trade sho

3.3

Setting Up a Shop in Canada

Down the road and once you have established a strong business relationship with your business partner(s), you may want to consider setting up a business in Canada without having to emigrate there. If you want to start a corporation, you will first need to decide whether you are going to incorporate your business federally or provincially. In a nutshell, you can incorporate at t

Setting Up Reliable Relations with Canadian Partners

There are some general differences in doing business with Canada (and with the USA for that matter!) than there is when doing business in Europe for instance. Generally speaking, North Americans are less formal concerning dress code and protocol than their European and Asian counterparts. Often, in meetings, men do not wear ties, for example. Dress codes are usually mo

Legal Shaping of Sales and International Settlements

Before entering into a business relationship with a potential partner, it is important for you to make sure the company you are about to do business with is a “good” company, and a legitimate company. This may be done in a number of ways. There are also different aspects of the company you may want to verify or validate before engaging in the relationship. As a star

Exporting Goods from Ukraine

After signing of the export contract your goods will start the trip to Canada and their first stop will be the Ukrainian customs. It is highly advisable to contact your licensed customs broker (especially, if it is your first shipment) and compile a list of necessary documents specifically for your goods. However, it is still possible to elaborate an illustrative list of docum

Shipping goods to Canada

At present, there are no shipping lines that leave Ukraine directly for Canada. Most shipping companies operating in Ukraine will have transshipment points. For example, Mediterranean Shipping Lines (MSC) ships from Odessa first to its hub in Southern Italy (Gioia Tauro, Italy), then onto Halifax (Nova Scotia) or Montreal (Quebec). The actual transshipment point will depend on

Importing into Canada

Customs clearance in Canada might seem to be the most difficult part in the ‘export’ journey of your good. Usually, newcomers do not have enough knowledge about regulatory requirements in Canada, procedures of border inspection and release of the goods in Canada. However, there is one very important Canadian peculiarity – to go through all import customs clear

8.1

Customs Clearance Procedures in Canada and Necessary Documents

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) ensures Canada’s security and oversees international travel and trade across Canada’s border. CBSA consist of seven regional offices and has over 1,200 points of entry including land border offices, international mail processing centers, airports, sufferance warehouses, and a

8.2

Rules of Origin

Typical mistakes of exporters: “I bought my product in Ukraine, so it has Ukrainian origin”; “I paid import duties when I imported my product into Ukraine, so it is ‘nationalized’ as Ukrainian”; “My product complies with the rules of origin under the DCFTA, so it also originates under the CUFTA”. To have a

8.3

Customs Duties upon Importation into Canada. Tariff-Rate Quotas and their Administration

Once the importer or customs broker have determined the correct tariff classification number, the person needs to establish the applicable tariff treatment that applies to the imported goods before establishing the appropriate rate of duty. General import duties rates can be found in the Customs Tariff of Canada.[169] The applicable tariff rates depend on the country of origin

8.4

Internal Taxes and Other Charges

Another interesting topic is internal taxes paid in Canada. In this Sub-chapter, we will discover the rates of Goods and Services Tax in Canada and its provinces as well as excise duties and taxes. Consumer Taxes Taxes ranging from 13% to 15% are applied to nearly on all consumer goods sold in Canada, whether produced domestically or imported. These taxes comprise the 5% fede

Non-Tariff Measures

Most laws in Canada, are legislated and administered by the federal government. In some cases, however, certain regulations may fall under provincial or municipal jurisdiction, such as alcoholic beverages (provincial) and packaging recycling (municipal). Before looking at what applies to specific groups of products, there is one main point for you to bear in mind for Canada: th

9.1

How to Find Requirements for Imported Products?

Some products require formal technical requirements if they are to be sold in Canada. There are tools that may help you to identify those mandatory requirements to your product. Given the multitude of industrial goods that enter the market, it is not possible to list all the applicable regulations. However, you can go to the main page of Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) we

9.2

International and Canadian standards

For a wide variety of products not only regulations, but also standards apply if these are to be sold in the Canadian marketplace. To ensure consistent and high quality, importers and government in Canada are increasingly adopting standards, both domestic, developed through the Standards Council of Canada as well as ones developed internationally. The Standards Council of Cana

9.3

Conformity Assessment Procedures

NB! If your product needs to get some form of certification, you need to start looking into this long before exports will actually begin as this process may take a long time. Remember that you should prove that product or service meets the specified requirements. Conformity assessment is the process of verifying conformity with prescribed technical regulations

9.4

Labelling Requirements in Canada

On the Health Canada website, you can find Industry Guides for certain consumer products, which may help you to navigate through the requirements of the Canadian legislation.[203] If you export textile products, it is necessary for you to get acquainted with the Textile Labelling Act & Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations. Here is a simple illustration of applicab

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property rights are regulated by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO)[217] to ensure that owners and creators benefit from their original work or investment in creations, designs or inventions. These rights can apply to a wide range of products, services or processes including: creations of the mind, literary and artistic works and symbols, names or ima

Useful resources and contacts

Description Links Canadian market information, export assistance, trade missions Export Promotion Officehttp://fsr.org.ua/en/page/export-promotion-office https://www.facebook.com/exportpromotionoffice/?fref=ts Export assistance and export requirements Ministry of economic development and trade of Ukrainehttp://www.me.gov.ua/?lang=uk-UA Networking Embas

Export to Canada: Step by Step Guide

CUTIS Project step-by-step exporting guide will help your business be export-ready for entering Canadian market