Cablegate: Spp: Canadian Chemical Producers Like Spp, See It
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
021709Z May 05
UNCLAS OTTAWA 001315
SIPDIS
STATE FOR WHA/CAN:TBREESE, AHOLST; WHA/MEX: EMRICH; EB/PDAS
Donnelly
WHITE HOUSE/NSC FOR FARYAR SHIRZAD, DEL RENIGAR
STATE PASS USTR FOR SAGE CHANDLER
EPA FOR PETE CHRISTICH
HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (MARMAUD, MARTINEZ-
FONTS)
USDOC FOR 4320/ITA/MAC/WH/ONIA (WBastian, ARudman, GWord)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD ECIN CA
SUBJECT: SPP: Canadian Chemical producers like SPP, see it
building on the Four Corners Arrangement
Ref: Ottawa 1199 (SPP PMO-OMB Institution)
1. Summary: Representatives of the Canadian Chemical
Producers Association (CCPA) are supportive of the SPP and
suggested that enduring institutional links between
government agencies will be a major factor in increasing
continental commerce in the chemical sector. They identified
the Four Corners Arrangement, an existing forum comprising
U.S. EPA, Environment Canada, Health Canada, the American
Chemistry Council and the CCPA, as a mechanism that can be
leveraged to advance SPP efforts to enhance regulatory
harmonization. End Summary.
2. The Canadian Chemical Producers Association (CCPA)
officials (Gordon Lloyd, V.P of Technical Affairs and David
Shearing, Senior Manager, Business and Economics) told
Emboff that they fully support the objectives of the SPP.
Lloyd and Shearing are very familiar with the "Smart
Borders" process which has transformed the bilateral
relationship with respect to facilitating cross-border
commerce while simultaneously enhancing security; they see
the Smart Borders initiative, which exhibits enduring
institutional links between agencies (e.g. CBSA and CBP)
with periodic meetings of high-level principals (e.g.
Secretary Chertoff and Deputy Prime Minister McLellan) as a
SIPDIS
useful model to advance cooperation on the regulatory front.
3. Comment: Embassy Ottawa has proposed establishing
linkages between the two governments' organizations that are
responsible for vetting regulation, the OMB/OIRA and the
PCO/RAOIC as a starting point for what we are referring to
as the "Smart Markets" regulatory harmonization effort
(reftel); it is encouraging to see industry arriving at the
same logical conclusion. End comment.
4. Lloyd noted that the SPP should leverage the efforts of
an existing institution that links the Canadian and American
chemical industry and regulators. The CCPA and its American
counterpart, the American Chemistry Council, already work
alongside USG (EPA) and GoC (Environment Canada and Health
Canada) regulators in a forum called the "Four Corners
Arrangement" or "4CA" which is addressing, among other
things barriers to sharing confidential business
information, standardizing risk assessment information
requirements, and exchanging personnel. More details on the
"4CA" are at the Environment Canada website:
http://www.ec.gc.ca/substances/nsb/download/4 cafinal_e.pdf
5. The CCPA see the SPP effort as providing the necessary
political impetus to move the Four Corners effort ahead
forcefully and expand the 4CA agenda to help industry
achieve mutual recognition of safety assessments, and also
facilitate a joint Canada and United States effort on the
"Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling
of Chemicals".
6. We at the embassy envisage that the technical work in the
Four Corners effort would underpin the higher level
coordination taking place between OMB and PCO and yield real
strides in regulatory synchronization especially if that
progress is firmly tied to a deliverable for annual
ministerial-level meetings.
Dickson