Project profile — Canada-Americas Trade-related Technical Assistance Program (CATRTA)

• America, regional (100.00%)

• Industry: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) development (32130) (15.00%)
• Regional trade agreements (RTAs):
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) (33130) (35.00%)
Multilateral trade negotiations (33140) (40.00%)
Trade education/training (33181) (10.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (not targeted)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (principal objective)
• Biodiversity (not targeted)
• Climate change mitigation (not targeted)
• Climate Change Adaptation (not targeted)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

The goal of the program is to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable economic growth in developing countries in Latin America and the Caribbean region by helping them to maximize the opportunities and benefits of increased trade and investment. The program provides trade-related technical assistance, either bilaterally or through regional initiatives, to countries that have negotiated, or are in the process of negotiating, a Free Trade Agreement with Canada.

N/A

Results achieved as of March 2016 include: over 8,000 people representing both governments and the private sector have participated in workshops, training activities, and other cooperation activities. Fifty-four subprojects have been undertaken in the areas of environment, labour, trade promotion, trade facilitation, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (measures to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases, pests, or contaminants), and technical barriers to trade. Results of these subprojects include: (1) more than 2,000 private sector organizations have increased awareness of opportunities and technical requirements for trading with Canada; (2) more than 880 government officials participated in awareness raising events regarding regulatory changes in the context of their countries’ free trade agreement with Canada; (3) the project helped Colombia benefit from its free trade agreement (FTA) with Canada by bringing eight different government departments together to discuss implementation issues regarding its FTA with Canada; (4) associations of small organic quinoa and mango producers in Peru received assistance to improve their export competitiveness and their capacity to access external markets, which has resulted in exports to Canada valued at over $800,000 since 2011; (5) exporters in Peru’s food and garment sectors were educated on Canadian export market opportunities, resulting in 10 Peruvian exporters receiving orders that demonstrated their established commercial relationships with Canadian buyers and led to new or expanded export sales of more than $900,000; and (6) capacity building training was provided to the Colombian trade support institution PROCOLOMBIA, which was then able to assist Canadian trade experts to provide training to Colombian exporters in various requirements for trading with Canada. PROCOLOMBIA then identified export-ready business and helped them participate in a trade mission to Canada, resulting in export sales to Canada of close to $9.86 million. These activities have contributed to an increased participation of partner country private sector organizations in trade with Canada, and to improved regulations and government and partner practices related to the implementation of free trade agreements.

• Proactive disclosure