US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA1315

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, Security and Prosperity Partnership 
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