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OTTAWA — The provisional application of Canada’s Comprehensive Economic and Trade agreement with Europe went into effect Thursday. It comes several months after parts of the trade deal were originally supposed to come into effect, but it’s better late than never for a Liberal government trying to position Canada internationally as a bastion for free trade.

With most European Union countries yet to ratify CETA, however, what does “provisional application” really mean?Here’s what you need to know.

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What parts of the deal are taking effect?

Canadian and EU negotiators agreed, when they signed CETA almost a year ago, that most of the deal should go into effect after the Canadian and European Parliaments ratified it.

Many of the policies being adjusted under the deal are made at the EU level rather than by individual states. A few items that deal more specifically with national jurisdictions are being put off until all 28 EU member states have ratified CETA in their legislatures.