In February 2011, President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched the Canada- United States Regulatory Cooperation Council, or RCC. The leaders created the RCC to facilitate closer cooperation, develop smarter and more effective approaches to regulation and strengthen our economies, while meeting the fundamental responsibilities to protect the safety and welfare of citizens. They recognized that regulatory differences and duplicative procedures impose unnecessary requirements and costs to our citizens, businesses and economies. Over the past six months the Coast Guard and Transport Canada have been working together to write documents that will guide them as they implement the initiatives of the RCC.
The Coast Guard and Transport Canada drafted a Regulatory Partnership Statement, or RPS. The RPS supports efforts to institutionalize RCC initiatives and outline a framework to develop plans for bilateral regulatory cooperation activities between U.S. and Canada.
The Coast Guard and Transport Canada developed two technical work plans which address department-to-department commitments and support the RPS.
The first work plan is focused on regulatory development to improve cost-effective stakeholder compliance while reducing unnecessary regulatory differences and maintaining or increasing the overall level of maritime safety, security and environmental protection.
The second work plan is focused on operations and identifying areas for the Coast Guard and Transport Canada to coordinate their marine safety, environmental stewardship and security regulatory systems.
The Coast Guard and Transport Canada’s overarching goal is to reduce the regulatory burden for maritime stakeholders including identifying duplicative inspections and potentially incorporating industry standards.
For more information, please visit the Regulatory Cooperation Council webpage.
This blog is not a replacement or substitute for the formal posting of regulations and updates or existing processes for receiving formal feedback of the same. Links provided on this blog will direct the reader to official source documents, such as the Federal Register, Homeport and the Code of Federal Regulations. These documents remain the official source for regulatory information published by the Coast Guard.
