🍁 civid v1

Status and purpose

• Bill C-18 received royal assent on May 6, 2026. It comes into force on a date to be set by the Governor in Council; the provided text does not give that date.
• It approves and implements the Canada–Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, signed on September 24, 2025. Its stated objectives include establishing a free trade area, reducing trade barriers and promoting investment, labour rights, environmental protection and sustainable development.
• It affects businesses and investors trading between the countries, Canadian companies operating in Indonesia, domestic producers competing with Indonesian imports, and federal institutions administering the agreement.

Administration and oversight

• The Minister for International Trade represents Canada on the agreement’s Joint Committee and may make specified appointments to agreement bodies and dispute panels. Environment and labour ministers have roles in appointing representatives to their respective bodies.
• Canada must pay its appropriate share of committee and other institutional costs, including specified panel remuneration, expenses and general costs. No cost estimate is provided.
• The minister must ensure that Canadian companies operating in Indonesia comply with principles and guidelines referred to in the agreement, establish a complaints process, and prepare an annual activity report by January 1 each year starting in 2027.
• A House of Commons committee must review the Act and agreement within three years of the review provision coming into force and every three years thereafter. It must report within six months after completing each review.

Legal powers and limits

• To suspend benefits in accordance with the agreement, the Governor in Council may make orders suspending rights, modifying or suspending federal law’s application, extending federal law, or taking other measures considered necessary in relation to Indonesia and specified Indonesian goods, services or investments.
• Proceedings based solely on specified administrative provisions, such orders, or the agreement generally require the Attorney General of Canada’s consent. The restriction concerning the agreement is subject to specified agreement articles.
• The Act says neither it nor the agreement applies to natural surface or groundwater in any state, and it preserves Parliament’s right to legislate to implement the agreement.

Changes to existing law

• Customs and tariffs: A new Indonesia Tariff provides preferential rates for qualifying goods originating in Indonesia. Most tariff items outside the two schedules receive a “Free” rate; Schedule 1 items are marked “N/A,” and Schedule 2 sets rates that generally decline to duty-free in stages. Depending on the category, the scheduled final reduction occurs on January 1 of the fourth, ninth or fourteenth year after the year the tariff provision comes into force; some rates may become free earlier under rounding rules.
• Certificates of origin: Importers, exporters and producers claiming preferential treatment must follow specified written certification and supporting-information requirements.
• Trade safeguards: Canadian producers or their representatives may complain to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal about increased imports receiving the Indonesia Tariff. Following the required inquiry, the government may suspend tariff reductions or impose a temporary additional duty where those imports are a principal cause of serious injury or its threat. An order generally lasts at most two years and may be extended to a maximum of three years.
• Other amendments: The Act adds references to the agreement in the Financial Administration Act, Investment Canada Act and Commercial Arbitration Act, and makes related changes to the Customs Act, Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act and Customs Tariff.

The supplied text is truncated during Schedule 2, so its complete list of staged tariff items is not available here.