OTA staff recently took part in a regional roundtable discussion in Windsor, Ont. with president of the Treasury Board of Canada, Anita Anand. The discussion focused on opportunities to advance regulatory cooperation between Canada and the U.S., and providing input into the newly revitalized Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) between both countries.
Originally formed in 2011, the RCC is a bilateral Canada-U.S. forum organized for regulators and stakeholders to discuss regulatory barriers to cross-border trade and investment and to identify opportunities for regulatory alignment between our countries.
During the discussion, OTA staff raised multiple long-standing issues for our sector, including the repositioning of foreign empty trailers, and the re-establishment of a permanent U.S. in-transit process for Canadian carriers. Both topics are seen by cross-border operators as significant supply chain inefficiencies, as alignment and reciprocity continues to be raised by trucking groups on both sides of the border.
“We commend Minister Anand for taking leadership in revitalizing the RCC and actively soliciting input from stakeholders. With the review of CUSMA on the horizon, this platform will be critical to ensuring that inefficiencies impacting Canada-U.S. trade can be identified and addressed in a coordinated fashion with U.S. officials,” says Lak Shoan, director, of Policy and Industry Awareness Programs for OTA.
The regional roundtable was also attended by stakeholder groups and businesses representing the automotive sector; medical devices and technology; importers and exporters; customs brokers; chemical industry and others.
Members who would like to submit feedback regarding regulatory issues that continue to be irritants for their businesses can send feedback to operations_safety@ontruck.org.