1. Reference Document Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat    © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. This information is released under an Open Government Licence - Canada.  Disclaimer: This resource has been deemed to have business value but is not an official publication of the Government of Canada. It is provided in the original language and format in which it was created Open Government Canada  

2. Regulatory Cooperation: Moving Forward Together

3. Canada – U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council
Regulatory Cooperation: Moving Forward Together
Ottawa, Ontario
June 14, 2017

4. Outline
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s (TBS) and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs’ (OIRA) Roles in Regulatory Cooperation
Regulatory Cooperation Council Origins
Regulatory Cooperation Council Successes
Moving Forward

5. TBS’s and OIRA’s Roles in Regulatory Cooperation

6. TBS Role: Regulatory Oversight
President of the Treasury Board
Responsible for the regulatory policy and oversight function
Regulatory Affairs Sector
Develop and oversee policies to promote good regulatory practices
Review proposed regulations to ensure they adhere to the requirements of Government policy
Advance regulatory cooperation across jurisdictions
Regulatory Cooperation Directorate
Centre of regulatory cooperation expertise and thought-leadership
Engagement with regulators and stakeholders to support and advance regulatory cooperation initiatives

7. TBS Regulatory Cooperation Responsibilities
Develop policy expertise and thought leadership on regulatory cooperation
Support Canada’s international and domestic trade priorities and further regulatory cooperation efforts
Provide central oversight and facilitate departmental regulatory cooperation annual planning
Support and coordinate the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council

8. OIRA Role: Regulatory Oversight
Part of White House Office of Management & Budget
Responsible for the regulatory policy and oversight function
Led by senate-confirmed Administrator
Neomi Rao has been nominated by President Trump to be next Administrator of OIRA
U.S. government’s central authority for the review of Executive Branch regulations, approval of Government information collections, establishment of Government statistical practices, and coordination of federal privacy policy
Implements regulatory planning and review process set out in Executive Order – Regulatory Planning and Review

9. Regulatory Cooperation Council Origins

10. Origins of the Canada-U.S. RCC
Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) announced in February 2011
To enhance economic competitiveness while maintaining high levels of protection for health, safety and the environment
Capitalize on longstanding opportunity to find efficiencies and cost savings by aligning regulatory systems, where appropriate
RCC initiated 2011
Objective
Action
Very large annual trade relationship – world’s largest when the RCC began
Highly integrated manufacturing and supply chains
Similar consumer preferences and risk tolerance
Effective, but independent, regulatory systems target similar outcomes

11. Key Components of the RCC
What
Practical approach to regulator-to-regulator cooperation to create compatible regulations and eliminate duplication while maintaining high standards for safety, health and environment
Who
16 Canadian and U.S. agencies with health, safety and environmental protection mandates that interact with production, manufacturing and bringing goods to market
What sectors
Pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food, environmental standards, chemicals, cosmetics, transportation safety, dangerous goods, agriculture, energy efficiency, and aquaculture
How
Collaboration on standards, inspections, certification, testing, product approvals, and monitoring of products on the market
23 work plans published with work underway

12. Regulatory Cooperation Council Successes

13. Examples of RCC Success Stories
Outcomes
Benefits
Hazardous chemical labelling
Harmonized labelling system
No need to re-test, re-classify or re-label products
$30-55M in 2015 to the North American paint and coating industry
Supports worker safety
Chemicals management compliance promotion
Joint educational primer and fact sheet for foreign suppliers to be published this summer
Responds to stakeholder need
Better understanding among chemical industry of regulatory reporting requirements for substances subject to Significant New Activities and Significant New Uses

14. Examples of RCC Success Stories (Continued)
Outcomes
Benefits
Energy efficiency standards for consumer and commercial products
Harmonized standards
No need to re-test appliances in both markets
Access to better, more efficient appliances
$1.8B in energy cost savings by 2030 to Canadian consumers
$1.5M per year to manufacturers, many of whom are U.S. businesses
Rail tank car standards
Consistent safety standards for interconnected rail networks
Improved safety in both countries
More efficient North American rail operations

15. Moving Forward

16. Components of RCC Work Plan Process
Stakeholder Submissions
Regulator Review of Submissions
Regulator/ Stakeholder Event
Work Plan Development and Implementation
Technical/Expert Working Groups

17. Current Environment and Drivers
Feb Joint PM-President Trump Statement: strong expression of support for continued Canada-U.S. regulatory cooperation
Compliments U.S. regulatory reform agenda as both seek to reduce regulatory burden
Budget 2017 provides $6M over 3 years to continue supporting business growth by advancing regulatory alignment with Canada’s trade partners.
Subject of intensified international dialogue and increasingly recognized as a good regulatory practice
Reducing regulatory differences continues to be strongly supported by stakeholders: regulatory differences with trading partners are “Canada’s next top trade barrier” (Canadian Chamber of Commerce)

18. Steady growth in support has built strength and momentum
Importance of Stakeholders
Support
Steady growth in support has built strength and momentum
Communication
Strong support is being communicated from multi-sector business associations
Collaboration
Bi-national groups of stakeholders working together on mutually beneficial opportunities
Leadership
Stakeholders including industry, consumers and NGOs, have a key role in identifying opportunities

19. Next Steps Ongoing engagement between Canadian and U.S. officials
Continue work on existing work plans
Work toward the next RCC regulator/ stakeholder event
Next iteration of work plans

20. Canada’s Regulatory Cooperation with Domestic and European Union Partners
Regulatory Cooperation: Moving Forward Together
Ottawa, Ontario
June 14, 2017

21. Expanding Regulatory Cooperation with New Partners
CETA
Standalone chapter on regulatory cooperation (Chapter 21)
CFTA
Standalone chapter on regulatory notification, reconciliation and cooperation (Chapter 4)

22. Trade with the EU, provinces and territories
Annual bilateral trade value: $90.1 billion in in goods and $39.9 billion in services
Canada’s second largest bilateral trading partner
Provinces and territories
Interprovincial trade worth $400 billion annually

23. CETA Chapter 21 on Regulatory Cooperation
Calls for creation of Regulatory Cooperation Forum
The Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) will encourage cooperation and information sharing with a view to minimizing differences in regulatory approaches.
Outlines (non-binding) objectives and principles
The RCF is a voluntary mechanism. Either Party may decline to cooperate or withdraw from cooperation at their discretion.
Outlines types of regulatory cooperation activities
The RCF will meet annually and help to identify potential areas for cooperation, and facilitate discussions between regulatory authorities in Canada and the EU.

24. Canadian Free Trade Agreement - CFTA
April 2017: The Governments of Canada and of all provinces and territories announce the new CFTA, which enters into force July 1, 2017.
The CFTA is designed to improve the flow of goods, services and investments across provincial and territorial borders.
Canadian governments will work together to align regulatory requirements and reduce the patchwork of rules between jurisdictions.

25. Advancing Regulatory Cooperation Internationally
Advance policy research on regulatory cooperation
Promote good regulatory practices with strategic partners

26. Regulatory Cooperation – Stakeholder Submissions
Regulatory Cooperation: Moving Forward Together
Ottawa, Ontario
June 14, 2017

27. Outline
RCC work plans
Key elements of submissions
Next steps

28. RCC Work Plans
Work plans describe specific areas for regulatory cooperation
Developed bilaterally between regulators
Informed by stakeholders
Provide transparency on department to department commitments
Many factors are considered including:
Potential to enhance regulatory efficiency while preserving regulatory objectives
Tangible benefits and impacts on regulated parties and consumers
Support from impacted stakeholders
Stakeholder submissions play a critical role in the development of RCC work plans

29. Issue Critical Elements of Submissions Context Objectives Priorities
Impacts
Bi-national
support

30. Submissions – Defining the Issue
Succinctly articulate area of concern or emerging area for alignment
Describe current or potential mis-alignment, including costs
Briefly explain potential benefits of resolving the concern
Explain how issue is a regulatory matter e.g. regulatory requirement, related to regulatory development or implementation
Issue
Key Objectives:
Clearly identify the concern and the broad benefits of resolution

31. Submissions – Setting the Context
Set out both Canadian and U.S. market context and competitive conditions
If relevant, summary of emerging market trends and evolution of sector
Describe considerations around the timeliness of resolution
Context
Key Objectives:
Provide information that supports understanding the impacts of mis-alignment in the current or emerging market conditions

32. Submissions – Defining Objectives
Identify objectives
Where appropriate, delineate short, medium and longer term goals
Provide potential solutions
Objectives
Key Objectives:
Outline objectives, timeframes and potential solutions

33. Identifying Priorities
Submissions – Identifying Priorities
Identifying Priorities
Prioritize where more than one initiative is proposed or objectives are defined on different timescales
In future, consider in the context of other regulatory cooperation proposals
Priorities
Key Objectives:
Communicate priorities within a proposal and between regulatory cooperation fora

34. Submissions – Describing Impacts
Articulate impacts on consumers, industry and others
Increased product choice, timelier market access, decreased consumer/industry costs, time savings, increased product quality, more efficient and effective use of resources ($, people)
Where possible, quantify
Provide underlying analysis and evidence, where possible
Impacts
Key Objectives:
Support understanding the specific impacts of action

35. Submissions – Outlining Support
Bi-national Support
Where possible, demonstrate bi-national and broad support
Consider joint submissions or multiple submissions proposing the same objectives by organizations on both sides of the border and over multiple associations and interest groups
Bi-national Support
Key Objectives:
Demonstrate degree of bi-national and stakeholder support

36. Points for Discussion Are there any elements that we have missed?
Would a guidance document or template be helpful?

37. Submissions – Next Steps
Build on the momentum of successes achieved to date
Upcoming formal call for submissions to support next round of work plan development

38. Thank you