EU And Canada Step Up Regulatory Cooperation

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

22 June 2005

The recently held EU-Canada Summit welcomed the considerable strengthening of dialogue between EU and Canadian regulators since the entry into force of the Framework for Regulatory Cooperation and Transparency between Canada and the Commission in December 2004, highlighting progress in a number of industrial sectors.

According to the EC, regulatory cooperation under the Framework will result in better regulations and help to avoid establishing unnecessary barriers to trade. The Summit also noted the development of a model Confidentiality Arrangement to facilitate the exchange of information between regulators during preparation of new legislation for goods, and a draft implementation plan.

The voluntary Framework for Regulatory Cooperation and Transparency of 2004 promotes a more systematic dialogue during the early stages of the development of regulatory proposals for goods. This facilitates work towards preventing and eliminating unnecessary barriers to trade and investment, while ensuring better quality and more effective regulations to achieve public policy objectives.

The Framework additionally outlines specific cooperative steps that Canadian and European regulators are encouraged to follow in bilateral dialogues, including early and regular consultations, data and information exchanges, and sharing of foreseen regulatory approaches.

Dialogue has already started on several sectoral issues, including consumer product safety, radiation emitting devices, toxins, and food labelling. How to overcome different requirements was discussed by regulators from both sites of the Atlantic at the first meeting of the new Regulatory Cooperation Committee, created under the Framework, on 18 May 2005.

According to recently released figures, the EU is Canada’s second largest trade partner after the US (12% of total Canadian imports and 4.8% of total Canadian exports), while Canada features among the top-ten of main EU trading partners. Canada ranks fourth among investors in the EU (after the US, Switzerland and Japan), whereas the EU is the second investor in Canada after the US.

Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen stated this week that:

“Significant progress in enhancing regulatory cooperation between the EU and Canada has been made in a very short time. Better dialogue results in better regulation, helping both partners cut red tape and leading to more and more advantageous trade between the EU and Canada.”

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