The Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT) has joined 24 other chambers of commerce from across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico in declaration of their support for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

The BBOT was among eight delegations from boards of trade and chambers of commerce from Canada, which also included Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Vancouver, Montreal and Winnipeg.

The meeting, hosted by the Canadian Global Cities Council (CGCC), took place Jan. 22 in Montreal ahead of the latest round of NAFTA renegotiations between Canada, Mexico and the United States.

“The goal of this meeting was to clearly identify the issues surrounding the renewal of NAFTA, to understand the risks for businesses in the event of the current negotiations' failure, and especially to send a clear message to the three governments on the importance of an updated agreement and maintaining open access to the entire North American market,” wrote the BBOT in a release.

“This event brought together metropolitan chambers of commerce from Canada's eight largest markets, as well as ten American and eight Mexican metropolitan chambers of commerce. Collectively, these chambers represent economic zones with a combined GDP of almost $3.5 trillion,” the board added.

According to the BBOT, more than 400 companies in Brampton — employing more than 23,000 people — exported roughly $6.7 billion worth of products to the United States in 2015.

The joint declaration signed by those in attendance at the CGCC event begins by outlining some of the facts and benefits of the agreement for all three nations.

NAFTA has seen trade between the three countries quadruple since its inception in 1994, now resulting in $1.5 billion in trade annually. Fourteen million jobs in the U.S., two million in Canada and another three million in Mexico are directly related to trade between the three nations.

The declaration, which calls for maintaining NAFTA with updates in keeping with the agreement’s core principles, also noted the growth in cross-border investment and the many benefits to manufacturers and consumers since its implementation.

The latest round of renegotiations closed in Montreal on Jan. 29, with the next round scheduled for Mexico later this month.