WTO Workshop on Regulatory Cooperation NOVEMBER 2011

2 I. Origins of Regulatory Cooperation in Mexico. II. The Mexican Experience. III. Current activities in the international arena. IV. Lessons learned. V. Challenges ahead. Content Content.

3 Federal Law on Metrology and Standardization (LFMN). North American Free Trade Agreement. WTO TBT and SPS Agreements. Other FTA´s. II. Origins of Regulatory Cooperation II. Origins of Regulatory Cooperation.

4 Harmonization: out of 878 technical regulations (NOM), only 132 (15%) are equivalent to international standards. Mutual Recognition Agreements: Governments: 4 Certification bodies: 7 Testing laboratories: 15 II. The Mexican Experience.

5 NAFTA – High Level Regulatory Cooperation Council (HLRCC). On August 10 th of 2009, the President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, and the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, made a commitment to strengthen and expand the work on regulatory cooperation as part of the efforts directed to making the North American region more competitive. From this commitment, on May 19 th of 2010, the Presidents of Mexico and the United States of America instructed the creation of the HLRCC. On March 3 rd of 2011, Mexico and the U.S. concluded the Terms of Reference of the Council. III. Efforts on International Forums.

6 Six goals of the HLRCC: –Make regulations more compatible and simple; –Increase regulatory transparency; –Promote public participation; –Improve the analysis of regulations; –Link regulatory cooperation to improved border-crossing and customs procedures; and –Increase technical cooperation. Public Consultation Both countries agreed to develop a Wok Plan that would be based on the public comments. Each country performed a public consultation oriented towards generating proposals for increasing the regions competitiveness through the reduction or elimination of unnecessary costs. III. Efforts on International Forums.

7 The U.S. consultation ended on April 18 th of 2011 and received 48 comments, which primarily focused on the following subjects: Frontier measures and tariff classifications; Vehicles; Consumption goods; Food safety; Other agricultural issues; and Pesticides. Mexicos consultation ended on May 15th of 2011 and received 252 comments, which primarily focused on the following subjects: Commerce/Customs; Standards/Technical Regulations /Conformity assessment; Administrative simplification; Electro technical products; Pharmaceutical/Cosmetic; Agriculture and livestock; and Sanitary and phytosanitary measures. III. Efforts on International Forums.

8 The Work Plan is an outline of the activities to be carried out by the HRLCC for a period of two years (It will be reviewed and modified as appropriate, on an annual basis). Possible subjects: food safety E-health Safety regulations in transportation Oil and gas Nanotechnologies Recognition of laboratories E-certification at factories III. Efforts on International Forums.

9 Latin Arch Forum: The forum represents the way of optimizing the commercial exchange among member countries and, increase trade, investment, and cooperation with Asian Pacific economies. The members are Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Peru. One of the goals of the TBT group is to increase transparency, regulatory cooperation and technical cooperation. III. Efforts on International Forums.

10 Private sector support facilitate the identification of priorities and type of activities subject to regulatory cooperation. One-size not always fits all – analyze the best for each sector. Essential: confidence building among regulators and technical assistance. Need of political involvement and definition of priorities. Assign human resources for the proper analysis. IV. Lessons learned.

11 Define priorities, activities and countries/regions. Convince regulators and private sector (sometimes protectionists). Keep it as a priority on the trade agenda. Use it as a good regulatory practice. V. Challenges.