[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2006, Book I)]
[March 31, 2006]
[Pages 636-639]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Joint Statement by President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Stephen 
Harper of Canada, and President Vicente Fox 
Quesada of Mexico--The Security and Prosperity 
Partnership of North America: Next Steps
March 31, 2006

    The three leaders of North America agreed to advance the agenda of 
the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) by 
focusing on five high priority initiatives:
    The North American Competitiveness Council. Increasing private 
sector engagement in the SPP by adding high-level business input will 
assist governments in enhancing North America's competitive position and 
engage the private sector as partners in finding solutions. The Council 
will:
     Consider issues that could be addressed trilaterally or 
            bilaterally, as improvements in our bilateral relationships 
            enhance North American competitiveness.
     Address issues of immediate importance and provide 
            strategic medium and long-term advice.
     Provide input on the compatibility of our security and 
            prosperity agendas, given the linkages between security and 
            prosperity in a global marketplace.
     Offer ideas on the private sector's role in promoting North 
            American competitiveness.
    Advancing Cooperation on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. Leaders 
agreed to the following principles to guide collaboration on all stages 
of avian or pandemic influenza management:
     Share information among our governments in an open, timely 
            and transparent manner.
     Adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach that 
            incorporates animal and public health aspects in managing 
            avian influenza and influenza pandemics.
     Ensure coordination within our respective national 
            governments on all aspects of emergency management for an 
            avian influenza outbreak or a human influenza pandemic, by 
            building on existing mechanisms of cooperation and 
            strengthening them as required.
     Coordinate our actions and leverage our respective 
            capacities to ensure rapid and effective steps are taken to 
            deal with avian influenza outbreaks or a human influenza 
            pandemic in North America.
     Advise one another in advance of making any decision that 
            could seriously affect the other countries.
     Base our actions on the best available science and 
            evidence-based decision-making.
     Agree that the imposition and removal of veterinary or 
            public health measures on the movement of people, animals, 
            and goods, under our national laws and international 
            obligations, will not be more restrictive or maintained 
            longer than necessary to achieve the veterinary or public 
            health objective so as to avoid unnecessary interference 
            with the movement of people and goods within North America.
     Ensure that the business continuity plans of our respective 
            governments consider the highly interconnected nature of our 
            economies.
     Strive to utilize clear and consistent messaging to the 
            public and international organizations that is proactive, 
            timely and accurate.
    North American Energy Security Initiative. A secure and sustainable 
energy supply is essential for our economic prosperity in North America. 
To advance our energy agenda we have agreed to:

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     Enhance the development of a diverse energy resource base 
            in North America by increasing collaboration on research, 
            development and commercialization of clean energy-related 
            technologies, and
     Strengthen the North American energy market by improving 
            transparency and regulatory compatibility, promoting the 
            development of resources and infrastructure, increasing 
            cooperation on energy efficiency standards, and supporting 
            other efforts aimed at addressing challenges on the demand 
            side.
    North American Emergency Management. The commitments made in the SPP 
recognize that a disaster--whether natural or man-made--in one North 
American country can have consequences across national borders, and may 
demand a common approach to all aspects of emergency management. Recent 
experience with hurricanes, ice storms, industrial accidents and the 
like demonstrate our interdependencies, as well as the need for 
coordination and mutual assistance in protecting and safekeeping our 
populations. Moving forward we will:
     Develop a common approach to critical infrastructure 
            protection, and response to cross border terrorist incidents 
            and natural disasters, across a number of different sectors 
            including, but not limited to, transportation, energy, and 
            telecommunications.
     Develop and implement joint plans for cooperation for 
            incident response, as well as conduct coordinated training 
            and exercises in emergency response.
    Smart, Secure Borders. Leaders agreed to complete the following 
activities, to contribute to smart and secure borders, over the next 
twenty-four months:
     Collaborate to establish risk-based screening standards for 
            goods and people that rely on technology, information 
            sharing and biometrics.
     Develop and implement compatible electronic processes for 
            supply chain security that use advanced electronic cargo 
            information to analyze risk and ensure quick and efficient 
            processing at the border;
     Develop standards and options for secure documents to 
            facilitate cross-border travel;
     Exchange additional law enforcement liaison officers to 
            assist in criminal and security investigations; and,
     Develop coordinated business resumption plans at border 
            crossings to ensure legitimate trade continues.

The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America Key 
Accomplishments since June 2005

    The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP), 
launched by the leaders of Mexico, Canada and the United States in March 
2005, aims to promote growth and economic opportunity, increase 
security, and improve the quality of life of our peoples. In June 2005, 
lead Ministers issued a joint report outlining steps to achieve these 
goals. Since then, highlights of accomplishments include:
     To enhance growth and competitiveness in a key sector, the 
            North American Steel Trade Committee developed a new 
            strategy aimed at reducing market distortions, facilitating 
            trade and promoting overall competitiveness through 
            innovation and market development.
     To adapt to changes in sourcing and production methods, the 
            three countries have analyzed ways to liberalize 
            requirements for obtaining NAFTA duty-free treatment. 
            Changes to the rules of origin have been implemented 
            successfully and technical teams are working on additional 
            changes.
     To speed up response times when managing infectious disease 
            outbreaks, save lives, and reduce health care costs, the 
            United States and Canada

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            signed an agreement to enable simultaneous exchange of 
            information between virtual national laboratory networks 
            (PulseNet).
     To make consumer goods safer, save lives, and prevent 
            injuries, the United States and Mexico signed an agreement 
            for advance notifications when consumer goods violate one 
            country's safety standards or pose a danger to consumers. 
            Canada and the United States signed a similar agreement in 
            June.
     The United States and Canada signed an agreement, which is 
            a milestone in pipeline regulatory cooperation, to allow 
            increased compliance data sharing, staff exchanges and joint 
            training. The sharing of best practices will lead to a more 
            uniform regulatory approach for cross border pipelines.
     The United States and Canada reached a full Open-Skies 
            aviation agreement, removing all economic restrictions on 
            air service to, from, and beyond one another's territory by 
            the airlines of both countries. The agreement will encourage 
            new markets development, lower prices and greater 
            competition.
     The United States and Mexico expanded air service in 
            specific markets by increasing the number of designated 
            passenger airlines per city-pair, and opening cooperative 
            marketing arrangements (code-sharing) to airlines of either 
            country and carriers of third countries.
     In order to increase navigational accuracy across the 
            region, five Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) stations 
            were installed in Canada and Mexico in 2005.
     To promote prosperity by reducing the costs of trade, the 
            United States and Canada decreased transit times at the 
            Detroit/Windsor gateway, our largest border crossing point, 
            by 50 percent.
     To support increased trade and expedite secure processing 
            of cross-border trade and travel between Mexico and the 
            United States, six FAST/Express lanes are operating at the 
            US-Mexico border, a new lane in Nogales will open soon, and 
            we are working on a project for a lane in Matamoros. 
            Exclusive lines and schedules will be implemented at nine 
            crossings.
     To allow more efficient examination of rail cargo for 
            hazardous materials and illicit flows of goods, the United 
            States and Mexico have installed gamma ray equipment at key 
            border crossings.
     To speed cargo shipping, the three countries are developing 
            uniform in-advance electronic exchange of cargo manifest 
            data for maritime, railroad and motor carriers.
     To improve air quality and promote a more competitive 
            automotive industry, Mexico implemented an official standard 
            to reduce sulfur in fuels. This will increase supply of low-
            sulfur fuels in Mexico.
     To increase border security, Mexican and U.S. agencies are 
            harmonizing risk assessment mechanisms, exchanging 
            information, and establishing protocols to facilitate 
            detection of fraud and smuggling.
     To strengthen the integrity and security of asylum and 
            refugee status determination systems, the United States and 
            Canada launched a pilot project to share information on 
            refugee and asylum claimants based on a comparison of 
            fingerprint records.
     To address border violence, United States and Mexico signed 
            an Action Plan to Combat Border Violence and Improve Public 
            Safety. Officials of the two countries in Nogales, AZ-
            Nogales, Sonora and Laredo, TX-Nuevo Laredo completed 
            protocols on border security and public safety.

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     Under the United States-Mexico Voluntary Repatriation 
            Program, more than 35,000 persons, including 20,500 in 2005, 
            were returned to their home in a secure, legal, and 
            humanitarian way.
     To increase maritime security, the United States and Canada 
            completed joint exercises on the St. Clair and Detroit 
            Rivers in September and in February during Super Bowl XL. 
            Officers, who were cross-designated on vessels of the other 
            nation, could authorize pursuit of suspect vessels crossing 
            jurisdictions.
     To advance preparedness to address a cyber incident 
            affecting critical infrastructure, authorities from the 
            United States and Canada completed a multi-national 
            exercise, Cyberstorm, in February 2006.
     To enhance aviation security, the United States, Canada, 
            and Mexico completed training on principles to protect 
            aircraft from terrorism threats, on marksmanship skills, and 
            on emergency procedures.
     To enhance port security, Canada and the United States 
            concluded port facility visits at Oakland, CA and Vancouver, 
            BC in October 2005 to facilitate the development of 
            benchmark security standards.
     To ensure food safety while facilitating trade, a Food 
            Safety Coordinating Task Force was formed and is developing 
            a prioritized list of standards to compare for similarities, 
            differences, and scientific bases for the differences. These 
            efforts will facilitate the development of North American 
            standards and, as appropriate, the removal of differences in 
            standards.
     To enhance clarity and compatibility of energy regulation, 
            Canadian, U.S. and Mexican regulators began regular meetings 
            to exchange information on regulatory standards and energy 
            market developments and to discuss bringing gas from Alaska 
            to the North American market.
     To reduce marine air pollution, Canada and the United 
            States have coordinated data collection, marine inventory 
            development and air quality monitoring. The two countries 
            are preparing to approach the International Maritime 
            Organization to designate special areas for controlling 
            sulfur emissions from marine vessels.
     Canada and the United States are developing Mutual 
            Assistance Arrangements, which will enhance our preparedness 
            for cross-border public health emergencies; Mexico has been 
            invited to participate.

Note: An original was not available for verification of the content of 
this joint statement.