Decision

Rules of Procedure of the Canada-UK Joint Committee

Updated 10 May 2024

Rule 1: Composition and chair

1. The Canada-UK Joint Committee (“the Joint Committee”) that is established in accordance with incorporated Article 26.1 of the Trade Continuity Agreement between Canada, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“the United Kingdom” or “UK”), of the other part (“the Agreement”) will perform its duties as provided in incorporated Article 26.1 and Article II(1) of the Agreement, takes responsibility for the implementation and application of the Agreement and to further its general aims.

2. The Joint Committee shall be composed of representatives of the United Kingdom and representatives of Canada and shall be co-chaired by the Minister for International Trade of Canada and the Secretary of State responsible for International Trade in the UK. The co-chairs may be represented by their respective designees as provided in incorporated Article 26.1.1 of the Agreement.

3. Reference to the Parties in these Rules of Procedure are to those defined in the Preamble to the Agreement, namely the United Kingdom and Canada.

Rule 2: Mutual consent

All Committees to which these rules apply shall act by mutual consent when taking decisions and in exercise of their functions under these Rules of Procedure.

Rule 3: Representation

1. Each Party will notify the other Party of the list of the members of its Secretariat of the Joint Committee. The list will be administered and kept current by each of the Parties’ respective Secretariats.

2. A co-chair of the Joint Committee may be represented by a designee if that person is unable to attend a meeting. The co-chair, or his or her designee, will inform in writing the other co-chair and the relevant contact point of the designation as far in advance of the meeting as possible.

3. The designee of the co-chair of the Joint Committee will exercise the rights of that co-chair to the extent of the designation. In these Rules of Procedure, subsequent references to co-chairs of the Joint Committee will be understood to include the designee.

Rule 4: Secretariat of the Canada-UK Joint Committee

Officials of the Government of Canada and officials of the Government of the UK will act as Secretariat of the Joint Committee.

Rule 5: Meetings

1. Further to incorporated Article 26.1.2 of the Agreement, the Joint Committee shall meet once a year or at the request of either Party. The meetings will be held in London and Ottawa alternately, unless the co-chairs decide otherwise.

2. In accordance with incorporated Article 26.6.1 of the Agreement, the meetings of the Joint Committee may be held by videoconference or teleconference.

3. Each meeting of the Joint Committee will be convened by the Secretariat of the Joint Committee at a date and place decided by the Parties. As provided for in incorporated Article 26.6.2, the Parties shall endeavour to meet within 30 days after a Party receives a request to meet from the other Party.

4. When out of session, the Joint Committee may address any issue by correspondence.

Rule 6: Delegation

The members of the Joint Committee may be accompanied by government officials. Before each meeting, the co-chairs of the Joint Committee will be informed of the intended composition of the delegation of each Party .

Rule 7: Documents

When the deliberations of the Joint Committee are based on written supporting documents, these documents will be numbered and circulated by the Secretariat of the Joint Committee as documents of the Joint Committee.

Rule 8: Correspondence

1. Correspondence addressed to the co-chairs of the Joint Committee will be forwarded to the Secretariat of the Joint Committee.

2. Correspondence from the co-chairs of the Joint Committee will be sent to the recipients by the Secretariat of the Joint Committee and be numbered.

Rule 9: Agenda for meetings

1. A provisional agenda for each meeting will be drawn up by the Secretariat of the Joint Committee. It will be forwarded, together with any documents relevant to the items that are subject to a request for inclusion on the agenda, to the Joint Committee, including the co-chairs, no later than 15 calendar days before the beginning of the meeting.

2. The co-chairs of the Joint Committee may agree to make public a jointly approved version of the final agenda of the Joint Committee subject to the application of incorporated Article 26.4 of the Agreement.

3. The final agenda will be adopted by the Joint Committee at the beginning of each meeting. Items other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the Parties so decide.

4. The co-chairs of the Joint Committee may by mutual consent invite observers, including representatives of other bodies of the Parties or independent experts to attend its meetings in order to provide information on specific subjects.

Rule 10: Summary of discussions

1. A summary of discussions following each meeting will be drawn up by the Secretariat of the Joint Committee.

2. The summary of discussions will, unless otherwise agreed, include the following: a. documents submitted to the Joint Committee; b. any statement that a member of the Joint Committee requested to be entered in the summary of discussions; and c. the decisions adopted, recommendations made, joint statements decided upon and operational conclusions if adopted on specific items.

3. The summary of discussions will include a list of the respective government departments, ministries or other bodies represented at the meeting.

4. The summary of discussions will be approved in writing by the Joint Committee Secretariat following the meeting.

5. Once the summary of discussions is approved, it will be made public subject to the application of Article 26.4 of the Agreement.

Rule 11: Decisions and recommendations

1. The Joint Committee shall make decisions in respect of all matters when this Agreement so provides, and may also make appropriate recommendations. The Joint Committee shall act by mutual consent.

2. In the period between meetings, the Joint Committee may adopt decisions or recommendations by written procedure. For that purpose, the text of a proposed decision or recommendation will be sent by the Party making the proposal to the Joint Committee Secretariat with a reasonable period of time for the Joint Committee Secretariat to make known any concerns or proposed amendments. Agreed proposals will be communicated once the time limit has elapsed and recorded in the summary of discussions of the next meeting.

3. Where the Joint Committee is empowered under the Agreement to adopt decisions, recommendations or interpretations, such acts will be entitled ‘Decision’, ‘Recommendation’ or ‘Interpretation’ respectively. The Secretariat of the Joint Committee will give any decision, recommendation or interpretation a serial number, the date of adoption and a description of their subject-matter. Each decision will provide for a date of entry into force, subject to the completion of any necessary internal requirements and procedures.

4. Each decision, recommendation or interpretation will be signed by the co-chairs, or their designee, of the Joint Committee.

5. The Parties will ensure that the decisions, recommendations or interpretations adopted by the Joint Committee are made public.

6. In case of decisions of the Joint Committee amending the protocols and annexes to the Agreement pursuant to incorporated Article 30.2.2 of the Agreement, all language versions are equally authentic as provided in incorporated Article 30.11 of the Agreement.

Rule 12: Publicity and confidentiality

1. Unless otherwise specified by the Agreement or decided by the co-chairs, the meetings of the Joint Committee will not be open to the public.

2. When a Party submits information considered as confidential or protected from disclosure under its laws and regulations to the Joint Committee or any specialised committee or other body established under the Agreement, the other Party shall treat that information as confidential as provided in incorporated Article 26.4 of the Agreement.

Rule 13: Languages

1. The official languages of the Joint Committee will be the official languages of the Parties.

2. The working languages of the Joint Committees will be English and/or French. The Joint Committee will base its deliberations on documents prepared in those languages.

3. The Secretariat shall discuss and determine the need for translation and interpretation arrangements no later than 14 days before the start of a meeting of the Joint Committee.

Rule 14: Expenses

1. Each Party will be responsible for any expenses it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the Joint Committee.

2. Expenditure in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents will be borne by the Party hosting the meeting. Each Party shall bear its own costs in connection with the reproduction of documents when a meeting of the Joint Committee is held by videoconference or teleconference.

3. Expenditure in connection with interpretation to and from the working languages of the Joint Committee at meetings will be borne by the Party hosting the meeting. A Party requesting interpretation and translation into or from languages other than the working languages specified in Rule 12 will pay for these services.

Rule 15: Specialised committees and other bodies

1. Pursuant to incorporated Article 26.1.4(b) of the Agreement, the Joint Committee shall supervise the work of all specialised committees and other bodies established under the Agreement.

2. The Joint Committee will be informed in writing of the Contact Points designated by specialised committees or other bodies established under the Agreement. All relevant correspondences, documents and communications between the Contact Points of each specialised committee regarding the implementation of the Agreement will be forwarded to the Secretariat of the Joint Committee simultaneously.

3. Pursuant to incorporated Article 26.2.6, the specialised committees shall report to the Joint Committee on results and conclusions from each of their meetings.

4. Unless otherwise decided by each specialised committee pursuant to incorporated Article 26.2.4 of the Agreement, the present Rules of Procedure will apply mutatis mutandis to the specialised committees and other bodies established under the Agreement. Where the present Rules of Procedure apply mutatis mutandis to a specialised committee or other body established under the Agreement, the provisions of the Agreement relating to that specialised committee or other body shall prevail in the event of any inconsistency.

Rule 16: Amendment Rules of Procedure

These Rules of Procedure may be amended by a decision of the Joint Committee in accordance with the provisions of Rule 10.