European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on the side of the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, this weekend.

This means trade liberalisation measures including annual tariff-free access for 45,000t of Canadian beef into the EU and 18,000t of European dairy products into Canada will begin to take effect in just over two months' time.

The application of the agreement is regarded as provisional because the national parliaments of all EU member states have yet to ratify the CETA treaty.

Since it was approved by the European Parliament last February, the trade deal's provisional entry into force had been delayed by concerns over European access to the Canadian dairy market. In Europe, there have also been fears that the market may not be able to absorb the Canadian beef quota.

Juncker and Trudeau, however, have played down these concerns and said in a joint statement: "It is important that our companies and citizens, the real winners with this agreement, start reaping its benefits without further ado."

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