A recent trade agreement between Canada and Europe could pay big dividends for a Delta company.
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is a pact between Canada, the European Union and its member states. The treaty eliminates 98 per cent of the tariffs between Canada and the EU. CETA came into effect last September.
Zodiac Hurricane Technologies president and general manager Jean-Jacques Arignon said CETA now means his company does not have to deal with import or export duties any longer.
“That will help Zodiac Hurricane import Zodiac inflatables from Europe and help export Zodiac Hurricane to Europe,” Arignon said. “This will be beneficial for Zodiac Hurricane and our Canadian customers as pricing will decrease.”
Zodiac, which houses its manufacturing facility in the Tilbury Industrial Park, welcomed Kareen Rispal the ambassador of France to Canada, along with Philippe Sutter, the consul general of France in Vancouver, and Patrick Imbert, the deputy VP North America for Business France Canada, for a tour on Wednesday.
Rispal said she wanted to see the facility first-hand and tout the benefits of CETA.
“I met Jean-Jacques previously and he told me about how CETA was a real benefit to the company, so for me it was really interesting to discover the companies that will benefit from CETA. We need success stories to be able to explain to the Canadian people and the French people how they will benefit from this agreement,” she said. “I’m very impressed by the quality of the products. I think it is an amazing company. The way they operate – the way they build the products – having units in different countries makes CETA very relevant.”
Rispal said she sees her role as one of advocacy for business in both countries.
“I’m trying to convince Canadian and French companies to really take full advantage of this agreement, so as an ambassador, of course, it is in my core mission to promote CETA,” she added.
Zodiac designs and manufactures vessels for both military and professional organizations, including the Canadian Coast Guard, Vancouver police, RCMP, Canadian Special Forces, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Royal Canadian Navy. It ships its vessels to countries around the world.
“It’s an honour to have the ambassador here. It’s good to see that CETA is finally in place,” said Arignon. “We could see in a few weeks a huge impact on the company. We are currently quoting a business for a product that is made in Europe for the Department of Defence in Canada and if we win this contract, it will be because of CETA. CETA makes us more competitive in our bidding.”
During the tour, Arignon showed off Zodiac’s newest platform, the Interceptor H 1300 MACH 2, which has completed its testing phase and is now ready to go out to the market.
Arignon added that as business continues to grow, Zodiac has the need to hire 12 more full-time employees, including welders, electricians and assemblers.
