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February 20, 2008 According to the U.S. State Department, the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy – part of the Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs – will meet for about two hours on March 10 to discuss “Regulatory Dialogues: Current State and Future Prospects,” with “a particular emphasis on the U.S.-Canada-Mexico Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and the U.S.-EU Transatlantic Council (TEC).” As you know, the only non-governmental group entrusted to broach these ideas in Canada is the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE). With all 10 CEOS in the Canadian section of the North American Competitiveness Council being card-carrying CCCE members, Tom d’Aquino’s elite business lobby group holds an inordinate amount of influence over policy issues affecting Canada-U.S. relations. While this U.S. advisory committee meeting to discuss the SPP’s regulatory agenda is heavy on business and light on civil society, there are some notable members who could offer a discordant alternative to the monotonous hum of harmonization. For instance, Consumers Union is currently advocating for tougher product safety legislation (now in the U.S. Senate) with mandatory (not voluntary) toy safety standards. The SPP’s regulatory agenda, specifically around toxic chemicals, puts the emphasis on governments to prove that a product is dangerous rather than on a company to prove that it is safe. The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), as well as the United Auto Workers, are also represented on the advisory group. In 2006, AFL-CIO Policy Director Thea Lee told a Subcommittee on Trade of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, regarding the SPP, “While the twin goals of greater security and prosperity are ones we support, we have deep reservations about the processes set out to reach them in this instance.” Lee, who is invited to the Washington D.C. meeting, continued that, “It appears that important decisions related to deepening economic integration among our three nations, and the well-being of our citizens, are being made by government and business elites, while civil society and Congress are sidelined.” But perhaps the most shocking part of this SPP discussion is that the public is invited to watch, even if seating is limited. Only in America, eh?
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