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Skriven 2007-08-21 23:31:04 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0708212) for Tue, 2007 Aug 21
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Joint Statement by Prime Minister Harper, President Bush, and President
Calder¢n
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary August 21, 2007

Joint Statement by Prime Minister Harper, President Bush, and President
Calder¢n Montebello, Quebec, Canada

ÿÿWhite House News

ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Pandemic Flu ÿÿÿÿÿ In Focus: Global Diplomacy

We, the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States, have met in
Montebello to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing North America
and to establish priorities for our further collaboration.ÿ As neighbours,
we share a commitment to ensure North America remains a safe, secure and
economically dynamic region, and a competitive player in global markets.ÿ
We also discussed opportunities to cooperate globally and within our own
hemisphere.ÿ The values and principles we share, in particular democracy,
the rule of law and respect for individual rights and freedoms, underpin
our efforts in building a more prosperous and secure region.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), launched in
2005, is aimed at jointly achieving tangible results across a spectrum of
areas, while respecting each nation_s sovereignty.ÿ On February 23, 2007,
our ministers responsible for the SPP met in Ottawa to review progress and
discuss our further cooperation.ÿ Our ministers of industry and commerce,
foreign affairs, security, environment, energy, health, transportation and
trade have also met in recent months, reflecting our deepening dialogue
within North America.ÿ They have made progress in advancing the priorities
we identified at our 2006 meeting in Cancun.ÿ In particular, our three
countries have completed:
  þ a North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza;
  þ a Regulatory Cooperation Framework;
  þ an Intellectual Property Action Strategy; and
  þ a Trilateral Agreement for Cooperation in Energy Science and
    Technology.

In Montebello, we have discussed how we can build on our progress to date
to further improve North America_s position in the world.ÿ The North
American Competitiveness Council (NACC), announced last year in Cancun, has
provided us with thoughtful recommendations on how we could strengthen the
competitive platform for businesses.ÿ We welcome the NACC_s
recommendations, including its readiness to be part of the solution, and we
look forward to continuing our dialogue with the NACC in furthering North
America_s competitiveness.ÿ We ask that our ministers continue to seek
input from interested parties in determining future priorities for
increasing the security, prosperity and quality of life in North America.ÿ
In this, the third year of the SPP, we direct our ministers to review the
SPP process, focus on priorities and deliver results.ÿ

We ask our ministers to focus their collaboration in five priority areas
for the next year:

Enhancing the Global Competitiveness of North America

The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a tremendous mutual
success in strengthening our economies and in enhancing the competitiveness
of North America.ÿ In a rapidly changing global economy, we must build on
NAFTA_s success and reduce unnecessary trade barriers to ensure North
America remains a competitive and a dynamic place to do business.ÿ To this
end, the Regulatory Cooperation Framework will enable us to develop
regulatory approaches that are compatible across our borders, while
maintaining high standards of health, safety and environmental protection.ÿ
In the coming year, we ask our ministers to consider work in areas, such as
the chemicals, automotive, transportation, and information and
communications technology sectors.ÿ The Intellectual Property Action
Strategy also gives us an invaluable tool for combating counterfeiting and
piracy, which undermineÿinnovation, harm economic development and can have
negative public-health and safety implications. ÿWe also ask our ministers
to implement the Strategy and take concrete steps to strengthen our ability
to combatÿcounterfeiting and piracy in North America.

We are strongly committed to advancing multilateral trade liberalization
through a successful, comprehensive and ambitious conclusion to the WTO
Doha Round of negotiations.ÿ We endorse the work of our trade ministers in
Vancouver on June 13-14, 2007, to build on NAFTA_s success and advance our
shared interests in the Doha Round. We ask them to renew their efforts,
working with their WTO colleagues, to achieve a balanced outcome that
results in meaningful increases in trade in goods and services and
improvements in global trading conditions.

Safe Food and Products

We will seek to strengthen the existing cooperation and mechanisms within
the region, build on current standards and practices, and work with our
trading partners outside North Americaÿusing a scientific risk-based
approach to identify and stopunsafe food and products before they enter our
countries.ÿ These efforts could include: working with authorities to
strengthen inspection and certification in exporting countries; identifying
best practices by importers in selecting foreign manufacturers and
inspecting goods either before export or before distribution; and reviewing
our own existing authorities and practices to enhance national, regional
and local coordination.ÿ Our governments will continue to address the
safety of food and products imported into North America, while facilitating
the significant tradein these products that our countries already have and
without imposing unnecessary barriers to trade.

Sustainable Energy and the Environment

The further development of clean and sustainable energy is critical to
reduce the effects of climate change and air pollution, while fuelling the
North American economy.ÿÿ We support an integrated approach to climate
change, energy security and economic development, and support the
development and deployment of clean energy technologies. Cooperation among
our major economies on a range of policy tools and sectoral approaches will
advance these objectives.ÿ In particular, we ask our ministers to explore
ways to cooperate on national auto fuel efficiency standards.ÿ We also ask
our ministers to develop projects under the newly signed energy science and
technology agreement, cooperate on moving new technologies to the
marketplace and collaborate on energy efficiency.

Smart and Secure Borders

Our borders must be both efficient and secure if we are to continue to
enhance prosperity, security and quality of life in North America.ÿ
Effective border strategies minimize security risks, while facilitating the
efficient and safe movement of goods, services and people, as trade and
cross-border travel increase in North America.ÿ These strategies will draw
on risk-based border management, innovative use of new technologies,
coordinated border infrastructure development, and by moving, where
possible, inspection and screening away from the land border.ÿ It is
sometimes best to screen goods and travellers prior to entry into North
America.ÿ We ask our ministers to develop mutually acceptable inspection
protocols to detect threats to our security, such as from incoming
travellers during a pandemic and from radiological devices on general
aviation.ÿ We also ask our ministers to further cooperate in law
enforcement, screening and facilitation of legitimate trade and travellers
across our borders.

Emergency Management and Preparedness

The consequences of catastrophic events often transcend national borders.ÿ
Preparation and planning can mitigate the impact of such events on people
and our economies.ÿ Much work has been undertaken between our countries at
national, sub-national and local levels to develop common approaches for
responding to major incidents.ÿ We ask our ministers to continue this work
and to address any obstacles preventing critical equipment, supplies and
personnel from being deployed expeditiously to those parts of North America
where they are needed.ÿ We also ask them to develop procedures for managing
the movement of goods and people across our shared borders during and
following an emergency.

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The SPP is focussed on the well-being of North America, but we also share a
desire to work together to advance prosperity, security and stability
globally.ÿ In Montebello, therefore, we also discussed opportunities to
cooperate globally and within our own hemisphere.ÿ We ask foreign ministers
to enhance dialogue and cooperation in North America, as well as in the
hemisphere in such areas as emergency management and preparedness, and
disaster risk reduction.ÿ Our shared values will continue to guide our
collaboration as continental neighbours and global allies in the future.

Prime Minister Harper and President Calder¢n were pleased to accept the
proposal of President Bush for the United States to host the next meeting
of North American leaders in 2008.

SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP OF NORTH AMERICA:

NEXT STEPS

We, the leaders of North America, have asked our ministers to pursue the
following priority activities and ask them to report to us on their
progress in one year:

Enhancing the Global Competitiveness of North America

Global markets are changing, with dynamic new players becoming more
competitive and innovative.ÿ More and more firms are relying on inputs from
a wide range of international sources for their manufacturing and
production processes.ÿ In this highly competitive environment, compatible
regulations and standards enable us to protect health, safety and the
environment, as well as to facilitate trade in goods and services across
our borders.ÿ Strong copyright and piracy protection also encourage
entrepreneurship and protect our citizens.ÿ Over the coming year, we ask
our ministers to strengthen North America as a platform for global success
and to achieve progress on regulatory cooperation and the protection of
intellectual property.ÿ In particular, we ask our ministers to implement:

The Regulatory Cooperation Framework announced today by:
  þ strengthening regulatory cooperation, streamlining regulations and
    processes, encouraging compatibility of regulations and eliminating
    redundant testing and certification requirements while maintaining high
    standards of health, safety and environmental protection;
  þ considering measures and initiatives in areas such as the chemical,
    automotive, transportation, and information and communication
    technology sectors; and
  þ undertaking trilateral cooperation to accelerate and strengthen our
    national and regional risk-based chemical assessment and management
    efforts.

The Intellectual Property Action Strategy released today by:
  þ developing collaborative measures to improve the detection and
    deterrence of counterfeiting and piracy, expanding public awareness of
    the importance of intellectual property to our economies and for
    consumer health and safety, and better measuring the scope and
    magnitude of counterfeiting and piracy in North America; and
  þ taking steps such as developing best practices for enforcement and
    sharing information and intelligence on border enforcement techniques.

We also endorse our ministers_ plans to
  þ develop an economic work plan to respond to the ever increasing
    pressures on North American competitiveness and to facilitate trade in
    specific sectors to foster stronger North American value chains; and
  þ conduct an analysis of the free trade agreements that each country has
    negotiated subsequent to the NAFTA, beginning with those in the western
    hemisphere, including opportunities for innovative provisions on rules
    of origin.

Safe Food and Products

In order to promote the safety of imported products that enter North
America and to facilitate trade, we ask ministers to:
  þ strengthen existing mechanisms within the region and the exchange
    information on import-safety issues, with the objective of enhancing
    the safety of food and products before they enter our countries; and
  þ identify and share with their SPP counterparts the best practices used
    by importing companies in each country to secure their supply chains
    and ensure that quality and safety are built into products before they
    are exported.

Sustainable Energy and the Environment

Balancing our energy requirements with the stewardship of our environment
is one of the greatest challenges of our time.ÿ We need to enhance our
research into new and clean technologies, facilitate the deployment of
these technologies to the market, and improve our energy efficiency.ÿ We
ask our ministers to advance work over the next year to:
  þ identify and pursue cooperative energy science and technology
    activities under the newly signed Trilateral Agreement for Cooperation
    in Energy and Science Technology;
  þ reduce barriers to the deployment of new and clean technologies;
  þ continue with efforts to align energy efficiency standards in key
    products and standby power consumption;
  þ cooperate for our mutual benefit in the development of biofuels,
    vehicle fuel efficiency technologies and technologies to reduce
    emissions; and
  þ share information and experience and cooperate in efforts to achieve
    comparable emission measurement, reporting and verification, in order
    to develop publicly available national emissions inventories.ÿ This
    exchange would include sharing of emissions information on, for
    example, NOx, SOx, CO2, VOCs, NH3, Hg and particulates.

Smart and Secure Borders

Our three countries have a long history of cooperative border management,
predicated on the understanding that our prosperity and security depend on
borders that operate efficiently and effectively under all circumstances.ÿ
In some cases, the best time to screen travellers and commerce is before
they enter North America.ÿ Coordinated, mutually acceptable procedures for
detecting threats far from our borders are a means to do this.ÿ Recognizing
differences in legal frameworks and policies, and noting the positive
effect on our common security of current information sharing initiatives,
we will seek to enhance our cooperation in this respect.ÿ

We ask ministers to continue to pursue measures to facilitate the safe and
secure movement of trade and travellers across our borders and, in
particular, to:
  þ expedite air transportation through the development of comparable
    protocols and procedures to eliminate duplicate screening for baggage
    placed on a connecting flight in North America, and for inbound and
    outbound air cargo shipments;
  þ develop mutually acceptable approaches to screening for radiological
    and other similar threats, to include general aviation pathways, and to
    continue to undertake cooperative or joint research to manage such
    threats;
  þ develop mutually acceptable approaches to screening people during a
    pandemic;
  þ pursue, according to our respective laws, new, innovative and
    interoperable law enforcement models that promote seamless operations
    at the border, such as the Canada-US International Maritime Security
    Operations, to better protect our citizens from criminal and terrorist
    threats;
  þ improve and expand existing radio communications available to law
    enforcement agencies working on border security and cross-border law
    enforcement;
  þ work with stakeholders to identify ways to further enhance benefits of
    trusted traveller programs (NEXUS, FAST and SENTRI), including through
    expanding and streamlining application processing, further program
    integration and coordinated infrastructure investments;
  þ alleviate bottlenecks at the US-Mexico border, facilitate the
    legitimate flow of trade and people, and increase border security to
    address specific border issues related to congestion, current and
    future infrastructure needs, customs cooperation, stakeholder outreach
    and technology; and
  þ Canada and the US will maintain a high priority on the development of
    enhanced capacity of the border crossing infrastructure in the
    Detroit-Windsor region, the world's busiest land crossing.

Emergency Management and Preparedness

Neighbours help each other in times of distress.ÿ Our governments have
worked together to address how we might better prevent, prepare for, and
respond to disasters  either natural or man-made  by developing a common
approach to all aspects of emergency management.ÿ We ask our ministers to
continue this work and specifically to:
  þ define, develop and coordinate appropriate responses to catastrophic
    incidents in North America; and
  þ develop bilateral and trilateral protocols and procedures through the
    Canada-Mexico-United States Emergency Management Council to manage the
    movement of goods and people, including emergency responders, across
    our shared borders during and following an emergency, and to improve
    communications among governments and between governments and industry,
    particularly during times of increased threat.

THE SECURITY AND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP OF NORTH AMERICA:

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS SINCE MARCH 2006

Strengthening the Competitiveness of North America
  þ To lower costs for business, maximize trade and protect health, safety
    and the environment, our governments completed a trilateral Regulatory
    Cooperation Framework.ÿ The framework promotes information sharing
    among regulators and greater compatibility of regulations and
    regulatory processes.
  þ To enhance our common efforts to protect intellectual property rights,
    the three governments finalized an Action Strategy to combat trademark
    counterfeiting and copyright piracy.
  þ To strengthen our energy security, environmental protection and
    economic sustainability, our governments finalized a Trilateral
    Agreement for Cooperation in Energy Science and Technology.
  þ To increase trade among our three countries, our governments
    implemented changes to the NAFTA rules of origin by mid-2006 that
    covered approximately $30 billion in annual trilateral trade.ÿ An
    additional set of changes, agreed to in 2007, will reduce
    export-related transaction costs for approximately $100 billion in
    annual trilateral trade.ÿ
  þ To promote safety and the seamless flow of goods across our border,
    Canada and the United States have agreed to the reciprocal recognition
    of containers used for the transportation of dangerous goods.
  þ Toÿenhance the introduction of new wireless services and technologies,
    Canada and the United States haveÿimplemented a new process to expedite
    radio spectrum sharing arrangementsÿfor the border regions.ÿ This
    ensures citizensÿhaveÿtimely access toÿthe latest wireless services,
    and public safety and national security authorities have the spectrum
    they need, when they need it.
  þ To improve the compatibility and reliability of critically important
    wireless communications for public safety/first responders, Mexico and
    the United States signed a protocol in August facilitating cross border
    communications.ÿ
  þ To facilitate the trade of telecommunications equipment, Canada and the
    United States recognized each other's testing and certification for
    telecommunications equipment.ÿ Mexico will haveÿaÿprocess in place by
    the end ofÿ2007 to mutually accept test reports from the US and
    Canada.ÿÿÿThis reduces production costs andÿshortens the time to bring
    new products to market.
  þ To modernize aviation relations and provide airlines with added
    flexibility to offer better choices and services, the United States and
    Canada signed and implemented the text of a comprehensive Open-Skies
    air transport agreement on March 12, 2007.
  þ To increase border crossing efficiency at the port of entry, the United
    States and Mexico announced synchronized, extended hours of operation
    at the Santa Teresa/San Jeronimo Port of Entry starting September 2007.
  þ As part of the North American Steel Strategy, North American
    governments launched a trilateral, publicly-available North American
    Steel Trade Monitor website presenting North American steel trade data
    on a consolidated basis.
  þ Mexico and the United States established a bilateral Border
    Facilitation Working Group to advance in the areas of infrastructure,
    technology, coordination, and stakeholder outreach and engagement while
    ensuring high levels of security at our points of entry.

Improving the Safety and Security of our Citizens
  þ To better detect nuclear and radiological material at ports, the
    Mexican government has agreed to install advanced radiological
    detection technology at the ports of L zaro C rdenas, Altamira,
    Manzanillo and Veracruz.ÿ About 92 percent of Mexico_s maritime cargo
    passes through these ports.
  þ To improve surveillance at ports, Canada has completed the installation
    of radiation detection equipment in Montreal, Halifax and Deltaport in
    Vancouver which, when fully operational, will screen 100 percent of
    inbound containers.
  þ To improve thesecurity and predictability of travel documents, Canada
    and the United States approved the Recommended Standards for Secure
    Proof of Status and Nationality.
  þ To enhance and strengthen cargo security programs, Canada and the
    United Sates initiated a five-year program to harmonize automated
    commercial information systems.

Protecting our Environment, Health and Quality of Life
  þ To detect, contain and control an avian influenza outbreak, and to
    mitigate the impacts of a possible human influenza pandemic in North
    America, our governments have finalized a North American Plan for Avian
    and Pandemic Influenza.
  þ To promote energy efficiency, our governments have harmonized energy
    performance standards for key household appliances and consumer
    products, such as freezers, refrigerators and room air conditioners.
  þ To raise the health status of indigenous people, Canada, Mexico and the
    United States exchanged information and research on various indigenous
    health issues, including suicide prevention, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
    Disorder, diabetes and indigenous health systems.
  þ To benefit our environment and quality of life, Canada and the United
    States signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) aimed at improving
    motor vehicle fuel efficiency.ÿ The MoC will allow the two countries to
    benefit from each others knowledge and experience in the area of fuel
    efficiency.
  þ To protect the environment, enhance health of people and promote the
    competitiveness of the automotive industry, Mexico started a program to
    gradually increase, from 2006 to 2009, the supply of low sulphur fuels
    in all the country.
  þ To improve the ecological health of our shared marine resources, our
    governments continued to expand the North American Marine Protected
    Areas (MPA) Network.ÿ The Network will use our countries' marine
    protected areas in the development of a tri-national MPA-based
    monitoring program stretching from Baja to the Bering Strait.
  þ To assure the safety of consumers and the security of our food and
    agriculture systems, Canada, Mexico and the United States agreed to
    share current threat and vulnerability assessment methodology and
    information for the food and agriculture systems, including imported
    and exported foods of higher concern, then undertake joint threat and
    vulnerability assessments.
  þ To better inform our citizens and civil society and receive input on
    our collaborative efforts under the SPP framework, the governments of
    Mexico and Canada hosted seminars with academics and specialists on the
    three countries as part of an ongoing public policy consultation
    process regarding the future of North America.

ÿ

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