January 18, 2012

OTTAWA (January 18, 2012) – “I have been very pleased with our Government’s overall proactive approach to increasing trade for Canada,” said Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright. “And certainly Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent announcement that Canada and the United States have agreed to implement two action plans designed to speed up legitimate trade and travel, improve security in North America, and align regulatory approaches between the two countries is yet another example of how seriously we are taking this issue.”

“As the Prime Minister pointed out, ‘Billions of dollars worth of goods and hundreds of thousands of people cross our shared border every day,’” explained Benoit. “Moving security to the perimeter of our continent will transform our border and create jobs and growth in Canada by improving the flow of goods and people between our two countries.”

Benoit went on to point out that the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competiveness focuses on four areas of cooperation: addressing threats early; facilitating trade, economic growth and jobs; integrating cross-border law enforcement; and improving critical infrastructure and cyber-security.

“We are pursuing an ambitious global trade agenda, while at the same time ensuring enhanced access to the United States, our largest and most important trading partner,” he said. “Together, these agreements represent the most significant step forward in Canada-U.S. cooperation since the North American Free Trade Agreement.”

The Action Plan on Regulatory Cooperation will help reduce barriers to trade, lower costs for consumers and business, and create economic opportunities on both sides of the border. It identifies 29 initiatives where Canada and the U.S. will align their regulatory approaches in the areas of agriculture and food, transportation, health and personal care products, chemical management, the environment, and other cross-sectoral areas, while not compromising our health, safety or environmental protection standards.

“This Action Plan will break down regulatory barriers and will make it easier for our firms and manufacturers to do business on both sides of the border,” added Benoit.

The two plans respect the sovereignty of both countries and specify they will work together to promote the principles of human rights, privacy and civil liberty essential to the rule of law and the effective management of our perimeter.

Although certain backgrounders are included here, more detailed outlines on each area of cooperation and what the initiatives will mean are available at www.borderactionplan.gc.ca.

Backgrounder

WHAT THE ACTION PLAN MEANS FOR EVERYONE CROSSING THE CANADA-U.S. BORDER

The Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness provides a practical road map for speeding up legitimate trade and travel across the Canada-U.S. border, while enhancing security.

More than 200,000 people cross the Canada-U.S. border every day to visit friends or loved ones or to carry out legitimate business activities. In their joint Declaration in February 2011, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama announced that both countries would be taking steps to strengthen the security of North America’s perimeter so that the flow of people, goods and services across the shared border could be made more efficient than ever.

What follows is a sampling of measures in the Action Plan that will make life easier for travellers.

Facilitating movement of travellers across the border

• Business travellers sometimes run into difficulty when trying to cross the border due to red tape and complicated administrative procedures. Under the Action Plan, administrative and operational procedures will be streamlined to provide simpler more predictable treatment for business travellers.
• Currently, flights originating in Canada with U.S. connections require bags to be screened once on departure from Canada, and again at the connecting U.S. airport, resulting in delays and increased costs for airlines and travelers. Under the Action Plan, travelling to the U.S. by air will be made easier by eliminating duplicate baggage screening over the next three and a half years, thereby reducing connection times, as well as costs.
• At the land border, wait-time service levels will be set and information made available in real time so that truckers carrying “just-in-time” shipments and other travellers can better plan their border crossings.

 

Enhancing the benefits of trusted traveller programs

• Programs on both sides of the border for low-risk trusted travellers will be better aligned and their benefits increased, making them a more attractive option. These additional benefits include improvements to the enrolment and renewal processes and access to dedicated lanes for pre-flight security screening at airports for flights from Canada to the U.S.; and
• Both countries will work to extend the applicability of the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) card for drivers to cover other specified security programs.

Investing in shared border infrastructure and technology

• Both countries will commit to a five-year Border Infrastructure Investment Plan to reduce congestion and wait times;
• Physical and technological infrastructure at the border, such as additional lanes, booths and custom plaza improvements, will be expanded in order to realize the full benefits of the improvements to programs such as NEXUS and FAST; and
• Bi-national port operations committees will work to coordinate plans and responses to port-specific issues, such as local border wait times and hours of operation, thereby improving predictable service levels for travellers and shippers.

 

Further details on these initiatives are available in the Action Plan for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, available at www.borderactionplan.gc.ca

 

UNITED STATES-CANADA REGULATORY COOPERATION COUNCIL (RCC)

WHAT THE JOINT ACTION PLAN MEANS FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD

Bilateral trade in Agriculture and Food between Canada and the U.S. has enabled both countries’ citizens to enjoy a reliable supply of some of the safest and highest quality food in the world. In 2010, with $33 billion in total bilateral trade in agricultural products, Canada purchased approximately 13% of American exports, while Canadian products made up nearly one-fifth of agricultural imports into the American market. On both sides of the border, this bilateral trade provides people with employment opportunities; consumers with a greater variety of safe and high-quality food products; and agricultural producers and food processors with a larger and more diversified market in which to operate.

Increased regulatory cooperation in this sector will help make it easier to conduct business between the two countries, thus contributing to the benefits of Canada-U.S. trade in agriculture and agri-food products. By bringing together regulators and technical experts from both sides of the border, the collective capacity will serve to mutually strengthen the Canadian and U.S. regulatory systems for agriculture and food.

The Joint Action Plan focuses on three aspects of agriculture and food: food safety, agricultural production and marketing.

 

Food Safety

Canada and the U.S. have very rigorous food safety systems to protect consumers and contribute to the success of the sector. Acknowledging the high food safety standards on both sides of the border provides an opportunity to focus on areas of higher risk, while removing unnecessary burdens on food producers. Although each country independently administers its regulations – and there can be differences in approach – whenever possible, efforts should be focused on regulatory alignment recognizing common health and safety outcomes.

In this regard, the Joint Action Plan proposes to:

• Develop common approaches to food safety systems in order to align efforts and minimize the need for each country to conduct inspection activities in the other country;
• Streamline requirements, and where possible, reduce duplicative regulatory activities under Canada and U.S. meat and poultry inspection systems;
• Ensure food safety testing in one country is acceptable to regulators in both countries and facilitate cross-border use of laboratory results; and
• Streamline export certification for meat and poultry, and simplify and reduce, where possible, import and administrative procedures.

 

Agricultural Production

Canadian and U.S. regulatory requirements and approval processes for agricultural products such as veterinary drugs and crop protection products (like pesticides) are already highly aligned; however, more could be done to encourage simultaneous application for approval in both countries and to minimize differences in maximum residue limits.

The initiatives related to Agricultural Production in the Joint Action Plan propose to:

• Create an environment to allow for simultaneous submission and joint review of pesticide applications in order to facilitate equal access to crop protection products and minimize differences in maximum pesticide residue limits and tolerances;
• Further align approval processes for veterinary drugs, therefore promoting equal access to veterinary drug products and minimizing differences in maximum drug residue limits and tolerances;
• Develop a North American perimeter approach for plant protection in order to collectively protect plant resources and streamline certification for shipments across the Canada-U.S. border; and
• Develop a common approach for zoning to help prevent the spread of foreign animal diseases.

 

Marketing

Canada and the U.S. recognize the need for common, fair trading practices to support a secure and stable market place (like tools to mitigate losses resulting from unethical actions and labelling standards consistent with industry conventions). To ensure a fair and competitive market for all producers, the Joint Action Plan will work toward establishing mechanisms that provide Canadian and American businesses with comparable tools to alleviate the risks associated with buyers who default on their payments. Specifically, it proposes to:

• Create a common meat-cut nomenclature or naming system and a mechanism for maintaining that system; and
• Develop comparable approaches to protect Canada and U.S. fruit and vegetable suppliers from buyers who default on their payments.

More details on these and other Regulatory Cooperation Council Joint Action Plan measures are available at www.borderactionplan.gc.ca.

 

BILATERAL RELATIONS

CANADA-U.S. TRADE AND INVESTMENT

The Canada-United States trade relationship is an example of how partners can benefit from opening their borders to trade. Canada and the United States have long shared the largest bilateral trade relationship in the world. In 2010, bilateral trade reached $645.7 billion, representing some $1.8 billion worth of goods and services crossing the border every day (approximately $1.2 million a minute). One in seven Canadian jobs depend on trade with the United-States. Over eight million US jobs depend on trade with Canada.

Of the 50 U.S. states, 35 count Canada as their number one export market, with Canada ranking in the top three export markets for a further 12 states. Over 4,500 Canadian-owned businesses in 17,000 U.S. locations employ more than 568,000 Americans.

In 2010, Canadian merchandise exports to the United States reached $298.4 billion, an increase of 10.5% over 2009. Though still short of 2008 levels, bilateral trade continues to show signs of returning momentum in the wake of the global economic downturn.

Top (non-energy) Canadian exports to the United States include vehicles, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, and paper/paperboard. Canada is the largest supplier of foreign oil, nuclear fuel, electricity, and natural gas to the United States.

Leading Canadian merchandise imports from the United States include vehicles, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, mineral fuels and oils, and plastics.

Canada and the United States have one of the world’s largest investment relationships. The United States is the largest foreign investor in Canada, with U.S. investors holding 54.5 percent (valued at $306.1 billion) of Canada’s total inward investment stock in 2010. According to U.S. statistics, Canada is the fifth-largest investor in the United States, with investments totalling $206.1 billion in 2010.