Report to Leaders: Security and Prosperity Partnership

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In the 90 days since the launch of the Security and Prosperity Partnership on March 23, 2005,
a number of collaborative initiatives have been completed to advance the prosperity and security agendas:

Report to Leaders: Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
http://www.spp.gov/report_to_leaders/index.asp?dName=report_to_leaders

Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

Report to Leaders

June 2005

On March 23, 2005, you announced the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America. At that time, you instructed Ministers to create an architecture which would further enhance the security of North America while at the same time promote the economic well-being of our citizens and position North America to face and meet future challenges. This effort builds on the excellent, long-standing relations among our three countries. The response to your request is attached.

In carrying out your instructions, we established working groups under both agendas of the Partnership - Security and Prosperity. We held roundtables with stakeholders, meetings with business groups and briefing sessions with legislatures, as well as with other relevant political jurisdictions. The result is a detailed series of actions and recommendations designed to increase the competitiveness of North America and the security of our people. While the Security and Prosperity agendas were developed by separate teams, we recognize that our economic well-being and our security are not two separate and distinct issues. In that spirit, we have worked together to ensure that the appropriate linkages are made between security and prosperity initiatives.

Upon your review and approval, we will once again meet with stakeholders and work with them to implement the workplans that we have developed. We will also encourage them to continue to provide us with new ideas and proposals which will help shape our forward agenda and our vision for North America.

To make North America secure for the future, we need integrated, coordinated and seamless measures in place at, within, and beyond our borders to provide our people and our infrastructure with the highest possible common level of protection from terrorists and other criminal elements, as well as from the common threats of nature.

To make North America prosperous for the future, we need to improve the efficiency of the movement of people, goods and services crossing our borders. We must remove barriers to trade, investment, research and education. We must protect our environment and promote the health and safety of our people.

Increased economic integration and security cooperation will further a unique and strong North American relationship - a relationship that meets your stated goals while preserving our political and cultural identities.

We recognize that this Partnership is designed to be a dynamic, permanent process and that the attached workplans are but a first step. We know that after today, the real work begins. We will now need to transform the ideas into reality and the initiatives into prosperity and security.

The success of our efforts will be defined less by the contents of the workplans than by the actual implementation of initiatives and strategies that will make North America more prosperous and more secure. We will report back to you semi-annually, highlighting progress on implementing our commitments and making recommendations for further initiatives to be pursued under the Security and Prosperity Partnership.

The report is presented in three separate sections. The first outlines several initiatives which were concluded during the preparation of this report. They represent an immediate benefit from this process. The second section outlines major themes and initiatives which focus on issues or situations which, when resolved, will provide major contributions to the economic and security integrity of the region. Finally, the last section is an annex which provides a description of all the initiatives that will be undertaken by the working groups, including a description of the project, milestones and completion dates.

Much has been accomplished in the preparation of this report. We want to commend the work of each of the working group chairs and working group participants for their creativity and their ability to work as a cohesive team with their colleagues from the other countries. We believe that if the dedication and hard work shown to date are carried forward, this Partnership can only succeed in providing the security necessary to develop a strong North American platform highlighted by sustained economic growth and job creation, and improved standards of living for our citizens.

Carlos Gutierrez

Michael Chertoff

Condoleezza Rice

Fernando Canales

Carlos Abascal

Luis Ernesto Derbéz

Secretary of Commerce

Secretary of Homeland Security

Secretary of State

Secretario de Economía

Secretario de Gobernación

Secretario de Relaciones Exteriores

David L. Emerson

Anne McLellan

Pierre Stewart Pettigrew

Minister of Industry

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America

Initial Results

In the 90 days since the launch of the Security and Prosperity Partnership on March 23, 2005, a number of collaborative initiatives have been completed to advance the prosperity and security agendas:

Prosperity

• Electronic Commerce . In June 2005, our three countries signed a Framework of Common Principles for Electronic Commerce that will encourage the development of trans-border online business in North America . The Framework addresses the respective roles of government and the private sector, promoting transparency and security, and facilitating the acceleration of ICT use by eliminating barriers to e-commerce in cross-border transactions.

• Liberalization of Rules of Origin . We have completed the implementation of modifications of rules of origin, covering goods such as household appliances, precious metals, and various machinery and equipment parts. Liberalizing rules of origin reduces administrative burdens by making it easier for exporters to qualify for duty-free treatment under NAFTA. These changes will affect US$20 billion of annual trilateral trade.
CLICK COMPLETE REPORT:
http://www.spp.gov/report_to_leaders/index.asp?dName=report_to_leaders

Useful Links
Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America

* Report to Leaders
* 2006 Leaders Summit
* SPP Fact Sheets
* SPP News and Updates
* Prosperity Agenda
* Prosperity Working Groups
* Security Agenda
* Useful Links
* SPP Comment Form

* Office of the United States Trade Representative: Monitoring and Enforcement
* Framework of Common Principles for Electronic Commerce
* US-Mexico Memorandum of Understanding on Mutual Assistance in Consumer Protection Safety Matters
* U.S.-Canada Memorandum of Understanding on Pipeline Safety
* North American Energy Working Group (NAEWG)
* Foreign Affairs Canada SPP Page
* Mexico Secretaria de Economia SPP page
* North American Natural Gas Vision
* Oil Sands Workshop SPP Report
* North American Steel Strategy

http://www.spp.gov/links.asp

CFR #8102: Building A North American Community —"SEND THEM A ROPE PROJECT", Sun Jul 2 01:39

* Security and Prosperity Partnership Of North America — www.spp.gov, Sun Jul 2 02:48
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* Homeschooler finds CFR DOCUMENT! WOW — Kimberly's Blog, Sun Jul 2 02:06

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