CABC Calls for Regulatory Cooperation in Upcoming Meeting of the Prime Minister of Canada and President of the United States

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Feb 02, 2011, 07:45 ET

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- At the upcoming meeting of the Prime Minister of Canada and President of the United States, the CABC urges the two leaders to commit to making measurable progress on the issue of cross-border regulatory harmonization. Such bilateral cooperation has the potential to significantly stimulate further economic recovery without requiring financial expenditures by governments. "By eliminating unnecessary costs of compliance between agencies and across borders, businesses can invest more in adding jobs and making capital expenditures benefit the economies of both countries," according to Kelly Johnston, the Chairman of the Board of the CABC and Vice President of Government Affairs for Campbell Soup Company.

In his State of the Union address last week, the President talked about the fact that salmon is regulated by the Department of Interior when in freshwater and the Department of Commerce when in saltwater. While true, that underestimates the duplicative regulations for North American businesses with integrated supply chains in the U.S. and Canada. "As economic recovery efforts progress, businesses engaged in trade across the Canada/US border continue to highlight the important role that a coordinated approach to regulatory reform can play in stimulating our integrated economies," said Jane Moffat, Executive Director of the CABC.

In particular, the CABC supports U.S./Canada alignment of regulations across sectors including for example: intellectual property, product labeling, and trucking requirements. A coordinated regulatory approach in these and other areas will bring direct economic benefits because it will allow companies to reallocate the vast resources they devote to navigating regulatory differences to improving their competitiveness, and in turn, that of North America.

About the CABC

Since 1987, the Washington, D.C.- based CABC has been comprised of businesses from both sides of the border and has been the voice of the private sector on issues of significance to the Canada/U.S. trade relationship. As a non-partisan, non-profit, issues-based organization, the CABC promotes the importance of Canada/U.S. collaboration on issues that affect our common prosperity. The Council is active on both sides of the border and works on policy issues that fall into the following broad themes: Promoting the benefits of free trade in both countries, and cautioning against the pitfalls of protectionism; Facilitating dialogue between business leaders and government leaders on issues of common concern, including for example supply chain and border management issues; Highlighting the importance of energy and environmental collaboration between Canada and the U.S.; and, Advancing issues that promote North American competitiveness vis-a-vis economic competitors in the rest of the world.

www.canambusco.org