Canada and the European Union have sealed a free trade agreement, officials said in Brussels.

It would make it easier for Canadian companies to sell to the EU and its 500 million consumers.

European companies will have easier access to Canada's 35m people.

The deal will supposedly lower tariffs, streamline regulations and cut red tape.

"This is a big deal. It is the biggest deal our country has ever made," Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

The European Union's £10.5 trillion economy is already Canada's second-largest trading partner behind the US.

The deal would also help to reduce the dependence of Canada's £1.1trn economy on imports from the US.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the two sides reached a "breakthrough" after four years of negotiations.

"This agreement is a win-win for both sides," he claimed.

The deal still requires approval by the European Parliament and member states and from Canada on federal and provincial levels.

Around 98 per cent of tariffs will be removed immediately once the agreement takes effect.

Sectors like Canada's dairy products, which are likely to see their market share fall, will receive transitional assistance by the government, Mr Harper said.

The value of bilateral trade in goods between the EU and Canada was £52 billion in 2012 with another £20bn in services, according to the European Commission.

However no-one mentioned the enormous environmental cost of large increases in transporting goods to markets thousands of miles away.