Regulatory cooperation a vessel for smoother trade, Minister Brison tells Great Lakes Economic Forum

DETROIT, MICHIGAN--(Marketwired - April 25, 2017) - Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat

The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board, heralded the benefits of Canada-U.S. regulatory cooperation today in a keynote address at the Great Lakes Economic Forum in Detroit, Michigan. Minister Brison cited the importance of regulatory cooperation in creating jobs, generating wealth, and promoting economic competitiveness while maintaining and improving health, safety and environment standards on both sides of the border.

Regulatory cooperation helps find efficiencies across jurisdictions and reduce regulatory burden, smoothing trade to the benefit of consumers and businesses in Canada and the United States. It leads to initiatives such as joint product reviews, joint inspections, mutual recognition programs and the elimination of duplication in regulatory processes.

Minister Brison cited a recent regulatory cooperation achievement: under a Health Canada pilot project, certain U.S.-manufactured sunscreens can be marketed in Canada without duplicating effort by quarantining and testing for a second time at the border. This could save the consumer health product industry CAD$100K annually per sunscreen product, potentially millions of dollars per company, and provide Canadian consumers with access to a greater variety of products at lower prices, just in time for summer.

Minister Brison also told the forum of a pilot project for joint inspections of vessels on the Great Lakes. And he cautioned that any border-thickening measures - whether in the form of protectionism or border taxes - could jeopardize the clear-sailing economic relationship that drives millions of American and Canadian jobs, to the immense benefit of both countries.

Canada and the United States have had a formal regulatory cooperation relationship since 2011 through the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC). It supports a practical, working-level approach to regulator-to-regulator cooperation to better align independent regulatory systems. Such cooperation will help to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, lower retail prices for consumers, and create good jobs for both Canadians and Americans.

Quote

"Our two countries have much in common, with a partnership based on common history, shared geography and values. Regulatory cooperation helps to reduce the burden on business, including by making it easier to move goods safely and efficiently across the border, and we know that anything that thickens the border, be it tariffs, taxes at the border or misaligned regulations, is bad for business and bad for consumers in both Canada and the United States."

"Our governments need to keep working together to reduce the regulatory burden on businesses, support consumers, and create good middle-class jobs for both Canadians and Americans."

The Honourable Scott Brison, President of the Treasury Board

Quick Facts

• In 2016, total bilateral trade was US$635 billion (CAD$841.1 billion), representing almost US$2 billion (CAD$2.3 billion) worth of goods and services crossing the border each day (or US$1.2 million every minute).

• Canada is the United States' biggest customer. In 2016, we bought more goods and services (US$322 billion/CAD$426 billion) from the U.S. than did China, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Millions of good, middle-class jobs on both sides of the border depend on this partnership. In the U.S. alone, nearly nine million jobs are linked to Canadian trade and investment.

• The RCC currently involves 16 Canadian and U.S. departments with health, safety, and environmental protection mandates, largely as they affect production, manufacturing, and bringing goods to market.

Associated Links

Canada-U.S. relations

Canada and the United States

Canadian Trade Commissioner Service - U.S.A.

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