Canada, U.S, Mexico push for closer relationship
Canada, the United States and Mexico will increase co-operation on security, infrastructure and trade issues, the three countries said Monday.
Security measures include better screening of individuals, joint preparations for large "incidents" and real-time sharing of information about high-risk people and cargo.
Steel, natural gas and autos are key areas for trade co-operation, the three countries said in a statement, Report to the Leaders, prepared by ministers and officials.
Reducing delays at the Windsor-Detroit border crossing is also important, the report said.
Establishing common standards and regulations will help reduce "redundant testing and certification," and the countries will work on a new strategy for 2006 to protect intellectual property and cut counterfeiting and piracy.
There will be a steel industry strategy aimed at eliminating market distortions, an Automotive Partnership Council to identify industry issues and a "trilateral gas initiative" to look at the natural gas business.
There will also be more co-operation on other energy issues, such as oilsands production and the electricity grid.
The report describes the initiatives as a first step in a "dynamic, permanent process," with further reports to follow.
It is the 90-day follow-up document promised after the leaders of the three countries met in Waco, Texas, in March to launch the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America.
- FROM MARCH 23, 2005: Canada joins U.S., Mexico in security, trade deal
Common Frontiers, which rejects the increasing economic integration of North America, criticized the report because "none of the major proposals on the negotiating table having been subjected to prior public debate."
It said there should be no negotiations on what it calls "NAFTA-plus" until the North American Free Trade Agreement has been assessed.
"It is undeniable that promises made by our governments on the benefits of NAFTA for the citizens of the three countries have not been kept," Common Frontiers co-ordinator Rick Arnold said in a statement.