    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [August 21, 2007]
    [Pages 1090-1092]
    [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 Felipe de
    Jesus Calderon Hinojosa of
    Mexico: The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
    August 21, 2007

     Montebello, Quebec, Canada

        We, the leaders of Canada, Mexico and the United States, have met in
    Montebello to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing North
    America and to establish priorities for our further collaboration. As
    neighbours, we share a commitment to ensure North America remains a
    safe, secure and economically dynamic region, and a competitive player
    in global markets. We also discussed opportunities to cooperate globally
    and within our own hemisphere. The values and principles we share, in
    particular democracy, the rule of law and respect for individual rights
    and freedoms, underpin our efforts in building a more prosperous and
    secure region.
        The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP),
    launched in 2005, is aimed at jointly achieving tangible results across
    a spectrum of areas, while respecting each nation's sovereignty. On
    February 23, 2007, our ministers responsible for the SPP met in Ottawa
    to review progress and discuss our further cooperation. Our ministers of
    industry and commerce, foreign affairs, security, environment, energy,
    health, transportation and trade have also met in recent months,
    reflecting our deepening dialogue within North America. They have made
    progress in advancing the priorities we identified at our 2006 meeting
    in Cancun. In particular, our three countries have completed:
         a North American Plan for Avian and Pandemic Influenza;
         a Regulatory Cooperation Framework;
         an Intellectual Property Action Strategy; and
         a Trilateral Agreement for Cooperation in Energy Science
                and Technology.
        In Montebello, we have discussed how we can build on our progress to
    date to further improve North America's position in the world. The North
    American Competitiveness Council (NACC), announced last year in Cancun,
    has provided us with thoughtful recommendations on how we could
    strengthen the competitive platform for businesses. We welcome the
    NACC's recommendations, including its readiness to be part of the
    solution, and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with the

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    NACC in furthering North America's competitiveness. We ask that our
    ministers continue to seek input from interested parties in determining
    future priorities for increasing the security, prosperity and quality of
    life in North America. In this, the third year of the SPP, we direct our
    ministers to review the SPP process, focus on priorities and deliver
    results.
        We ask our ministers to focus their collaboration in five priority
    areas for the next year:

    Enhancing the Global Competitiveness of North America

        The North American Free Trade Agreement has been a tremendous mutual
    success in strengthening our economies and in enhancing the
    competitiveness of North America. In a rapidly changing global economy,
    we must build on NAFTA's success and reduce unnecessary trade barriers
    to ensure North America remains a competitive and a dynamic place to do
    business. To this end, the Regulatory Cooperation Framework will enable
    us to develop regulatory approaches that are compatible across our
    borders, while maintaining high standards of health, safety and
    environmental protection. In the coming year, we ask our ministers to
    consider work in areas, such as the chemicals, automotive,
    transportation, and information and communications technology sectors.
    The Intellectual Property Action Strategy also gives us an invaluable
    tool for combating counterfeiting and piracy, which undermine
    innovation, harm economic development and can have negative public-
    health and safety implications. We also ask our ministers to implement
    the Strategy and take concrete steps to strengthen our ability to combat
    counterfeiting and piracy in North America.
        We are strongly committed to advancing multilateral trade
    liberalization through a successful, comprehensive and ambitious
    conclusion to the WTO Doha Round of negotiations. We endorse the work of
    our trade ministers in Vancouver on June 13-14, 2007, to build on
    NAFTA's success and advance our shared interests in the Doha Round. We
    ask them to renew their efforts, working with their WTO colleagues, to
    achieve a balanced outcome that results in meaningful increases in trade
    in goods and services and improvements in global trading conditions.

    Safe Food and Products

        We will seek to strengthen the existing cooperation and mechanisms
    within the region, build on current standards and practices, and work
    with our trading partners outside North America using a scientific risk-
    based approach to identify and stop unsafe food and products before they
    enter our countries. These efforts could include: working with
    authorities to strengthen inspection and certification in exporting
    countries; identifying best practices by importers in selecting foreign
    manufacturers and inspecting goods either before export or before
    distribution; and reviewing our own existing authorities and practices
    to enhance national, regional and local coordination. Our governments
    will continue to address the safety of food and products imported into
    North America, while facilitating the significant trade in these
    products that our countries already have and without imposing
    unnecessary barriers to trade.

    Sustainable Energy and the Environment

        The further development of clean and sustainable energy is critical
    to reduce the effects of climate change and air pollution, while
    fuelling the North American economy. We support an integrated approach
    to climate change, energy security and economic development, and support
    the development and deployment of clean energy technologies. Cooperation
    among our major economies on a range of policy tools and sectoral
    approaches will advance these objectives. In particular, we ask our
    ministers to explore ways to cooperate on national auto fuel efficiency
    standards. We also ask our ministers to develop projects under the

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    newly signed energy science and technology agreement, cooperate on
    moving new technologies to the marketplace and collaborate on energy
    efficiency.

    Smart and Secure Borders

        Our borders must be both efficient and secure if we are to continue
    to enhance prosperity, security and quality of life in North America.
    Effective border strategies minimize security risks, while facilitating
    the efficient and safe movement of goods, services and people, as trade
    and cross-border travel increase in North America. These strategies will
    draw on risk-based border management, innovative use of new
    technologies, coordinated border infrastructure development, and by
    moving, where possible, inspection and screening away from the land
    border. It is sometimes best to screen goods and travellers prior to
    entry into North America. We ask our ministers to develop mutually
    acceptable inspection protocols to detect threats to our security, such
    as from incoming travellers during a pandemic and from radiological
    devices on general aviation. We also ask our ministers to further
    cooperate in law enforcement, screening and facilitation of legitimate
    trade and travellers across our borders.

    Emergency Management and Preparedness

        The consequences of catastrophic events often transcend national
    borders. Preparation and planning can mitigate the impact of such events
    on people and our economies. Much work has been undertaken between our
    countries at national, sub-national and local levels to develop common
    approaches for responding to major incidents. We ask our ministers to
    continue this work and to address any obstacles preventing critical
    equipment, supplies and personnel from being deployed expeditiously to
    those parts of North America where they are needed. We also ask them to
    develop procedures for managing the movement of goods and people across
    our shared borders during and following an emergency.
                     * * *
        The SPP is focussed on the well-being of North America, but we also
    share a desire to work together to advance prosperity, security and
    stability globally. In Montebello, therefore, we also discussed
    opportunities to cooperate globally and within our own hemisphere. We
    ask foreign ministers to enhance dialogue and cooperation in North
    America, as well as in the hemisphere in such areas as emergency
    management and preparedness, and disaster risk reduction. Our shared
    values will continue to guide our collaboration as continental
    neighbours and global allies in the future.
        Prime Minister Harper and President Calderon were pleased to accept
    the proposal of President Bush for the United States to host the next
    meeting of North American leaders in 2008.