Business leaders urge Canadian and U.S. governments to accelerate progress on border efficiency and regulatory cooperation

After two years of disappointingly modest progress, the Canada-U.S. Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation initiatives urgently need a strong push by the two governments, says The Honourable John Manley, President and CEO of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE).

In advance of a meeting [on November 15th] with Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and an exchange with 100 Canadian and U.S. business leaders in Detroit, Mr. Manley voiced concern that an historic opportunity to make border clearance and regulatory processes more efficient and predictable is slipping away.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama announced the Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation initiatives during a meeting at the White House in December 2011. The overall goal was to promote economic growth, job creation and competitiveness by streamlining cross-border travel and trade.

During 2012, the two governments took several preliminary steps toward that goal, including: the launch of a pre-clearance pilot project for rail cargo en route to the United States; enhancements to the NEXUS border program for pre-approved travelers; and the issuance of a Presidential order aimed at reducing unnecessary regulatory differences between the two countries.

Unfortunately, Mr. Manley said, the rate of progress since then has been disappointing. There is still no sign of a comprehensive pre-clearance and pre-inspection agreement for passengers and cargo and an expansion of benefits for trusted traders, items that are top priorities for exporters and other companies that do business across the border...

“From reducing the burden of duplicative paperwork for large shippers to expanding our trusted traveler program to include Mexico, we have a long way to go to improve North American border efficiency,” Mr. Manley added.

On the issue of regulatory cooperation, he said, “The real question is how we can stop adding to the pile of misaligned regulations with our largest trading partner and begin to reduce it. The Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council has done some good work in harmonizing the 29 areas identified in 2011 – but the universe of divergent regulations is vast.”...

This has been excerpted from the 15 November 2013 article by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, and is available in its entirety at http://www.ceocouncil.ca/news-item/business-leaders-urge-canadian-and-u-s-governments-to-accelerate-progress-on-border-efficiency-and-regulatory-cooperation.