THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
WASHINGTON, DC – On December 7, 2011, President Obama and Prime Minister Harper of Canada met at the White House and announced two initiatives
to ensure that the vital economic partnership that joins the United
States and Canada continues to be the cornerstone of our economic
competitiveness and security -- the Beyond the Border (BTB) Action Plan and the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Action Plan.
These Action Plans build on our well-established bilateral cooperation
on trade, investment, emergency preparedness, and security. They also
describe specific initiatives with timelines for implementation that
promote transparency, efficiency, and the free and secure flow of people
and goods.
Today,
we are jointly releasing two reports that summarize the significant
progress made under these initiatives. While our efforts are not
complete, our two governments have worked together over the past year in
a concerted way to advance our perimeter security and economic
competitiveness, achieving results that will translate into a
significant savings that will improve the lives of residents, visitors,
and businesses in both our countries.
The Beyond the Border Report
highlights a number of the objectives achieved over the past year,
which both provide economic benefits and enhance security, including:
· Mutual
recognition of our respective air cargo security programs for passenger
aircraft, eliminating the need for re-screening, increasing the number
of flights that can travel and allowing airports to shorten the time
between flights;
· An
operational model for a pilot program to inspect truck cargo well
before the border, reducing wait times at the border, and resulting in
increased throughput of goods each day; and;
· Providing
additional benefits to trusted travelers, including expedited passenger
screening at U.S. airports for Canadian travelers, making it easier to
travel to more than one U.S. destination, increasing the number of
tourism dollars spent here.
The Regulatory Cooperation Council,
in fulfilling its mandate to promote economic growth and job creation,
has spurred unprecedented cooperation to provide benefits to our
consumers, regulators, and businesses through increased regulatory
transparency and coordination while maintaining high standards of public health and safety and environmental protection. The Council has achieved significant progress over the past year, including:
· Pilot projects for simultaneous submissions to regulators in both countries for approval of crop protection products;
· In the area of veterinary drugs, simultaneous reviews by U.S. and Canadian regulators for several drug submissions;
· A
pilot project for the joint inspection of non-U.S. and non-Canadian
flagged vessels entering the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway, focusing
on maritime security and pollution prevention, and monitoring living and
working conditions for workers on these ships; and
· A proposal to align U.S. and Canadian rules on tire safety and occupant restraint systems in frontal impact collisions.
