U.S., Canada and Mexico Announce Establishment of the "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

According to a joint statement, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico will establish a common approach to security to protect North America from external threats, prevent and respond to threats within North America, and further streamline the secure and efficient movement of legitimate, low-risk traffic across shared boarders.

According to various White House documents, the SPP will:

Enhance and strengthen FAST, Smart Border Accord, etc. Enhance and strengthen ongoing security efforts, such as the Smart Border Accord, the Border Partnership Action Plan, and the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) Initiative.

Liberalize requirements for NAFTA duty-free treatment. Lower the transaction costs of trade in goods by liberalizing the requirements for obtaining duty-free treatment under NAFTA, including through the reduction of "rules of origin" costs on goods traded between the countries. Each country should have in place procedures to allow speedy implementation of rules of origin modifications.

Enhance maritime transportation and port security. Develop and implement a strategy to enhance North American maritime transportation and port security.

Compatible screening methods for goods and cargo prior to departure from foreign port. Develop and implement a North American cargo security strategy to ensure compatible screening methods for goods and cargo prior to departure from a foreign port and at the first point of entry to North America.

Explore additional supply chain options. Increase competitiveness by exploring additional supply chain options, such as by rationalizing minor differences in external tariffs, consistent with multilateral negotiation strategies

Improve North American transportation system. Improve the safety and efficiency of North America's transportation system by expanding market access, facilitating multimodal corridors, reducing congestion, and alleviating bottlenecks at the border that inhibit growth and threaten the quality of life (e.g., expand air services agreements, increase airspace capacity, initiate an Aviation Safety Agreement process, pursue smart border information technology initiatives, ensure compatibility of regulations and standards in areas such as statistics, motor carrier and rail safety, and working with responsible jurisdictions, develop mechanisms for enhanced road infrastructure planning, including an inventory of border transportation in major corridors and public-private financing instruments for border projects)

Strengthen regulatory cooperation. Strengthen regulatory cooperation, including at the onset of the regulatory process, to minimize barriers.

Ministerial-led Working Groups to be Established, Report Back Within 90 Days

Ministerial-led working groups will be established that will consult with stakeholders in the respective countries. These working groups will respond to the priorities of each country's people and businesses and will set specific, measurable, and achievable goals. They will identify concrete steps that the governments can take to meet these goals, and set implementation dates that will permit a rolling harvest of accomplishments.

Within 90 days, Ministers will report back to President Bush, Prime Minister Martin, and President Fox. Following this, the groups will report on a semi-annual basis. Because the SPP will be an ongoing process of cooperation, new items will be added to the work agenda by mutual agreement as circumstances warrant.

Joint statement (dated 03/23/05) available at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050323-2.html.

Fact sheet (dated 03/23/05) available at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050323-4.html.

SPP prosperity agenda (dated 03/23/05) available at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050323-1.html.

SPP security agenda (dated 03/23/05) available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/03/20050323-3.html.