LOS ANGELES – Yesterday, the United States announced a new joint declaration on Good Regulation Practices (GRP) alongside Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay, and Uruguay.
The announcement came as trade ministers and other officials convene in Los Angeles for the Ninth Summit of the Americas.
Good regulatory practices are fundamental to transparent governance and fair trade. They promote development of better regulations, prevent and reduce non-tariff barriers, and support compliance with international trade obligations. Many trade agreements in the Hemisphere, such as the USMCA, MERCOSUR, the Pacific Alliance, as well as other bilateral arrangements, contain provisions on good regulatory practices.
The new GRP Declaration builds on this understanding with a broad set of regional partners. The declaration identifies actions and practices adhering countries intend to take to instill confidence, accountability, and predictability in regulatory processes. They include providing easy access to regulatory information, conducting public consultations in an open and inclusive manner; engaging all interested persons in the regulatory process; conducting reviews of regulations in effect; and using relevant international standards, guides and recommendations to avoid unnecessary obstacles to trade.
The adhering countries plan to assess progress on actions and practices by the end of 2023 to provide forward momentum to this important trade initiative.
The full text of the GRP Declaration is available here.
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