Canadian Manufacturing Coalition

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On February 4th, 2011 Prime Minster Harper and President Obama issued a joint declaration on Canada/US economic integration and competitiveness. The joint declaration established only the generally agreed upon principals – such as eliminating and reducing regulatory burdens and cooperating on border security – and was purposefully vague on the details. Over the course of the next few months the governments in Canada and the US will be looking for specific input on two related sections of the declaration – the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Beyond the Border Working Group (BBWG).

The RCC commits both countries to find ways to reduce and prevent regulatory barriers to cross-border trade, because simplifying rules and reducing red tape lead to lower costs for business and consumers, and ultimately to more jobs.

In short, governments are looking for both a broad-based principled approach, as well as specific company/sector issues, both for short-term wins where possible, as well as longer term planning.

The BBWG is looking at implementing a shared vision for perimeter security and economic competitiveness and in part is looking for ways to reduce the cost of conducting legitimate business across the border by implementing, where practicable, common practices and streamlined procedures for customs processing and regulatory compliance. For more information click here.

Governments are looking for ways to streamline operations in the near term by moving processing away from the border and looking for mechanisms to harmonize reporting requirements and enhance trusted trader programs (C-TPAT, Partners in Protection, Customs Self Assessment, etc.).

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