Regional
On June 8, 2022, USTR announced a Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices, joined by 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 convened 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. The 2022 GRP Declaration identifies actions and practices 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 text of the declaration is available here in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Americas Partnership
Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity Trade Track
The Americas Partnership for Economic Prosperity (the Americas Partnership) is a regional initiative to establish an enduring forum for regional competitiveness and investment mobilization, first announced in 2022 at the Summit of the Americas. On November 3, 2023, President Biden hosted the inaugural Leaders’ Summit for the Americas Partnership, welcoming country partners Barbados, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Uruguay to the White House. In the East Room Declaration, the countries announced their plans to drive economic growth, foster innovation, and strengthen critical supply chains through the work of the Americas Partnership, including a Trade Track dedicated to advancing inclusive and sustainable trade.
During 2024, USTR led work to implement the Trade Track. Trade Ministers met virtually in March 2024, and convened for the first in-person Trade Ministerial on August 1, 2024 in Quito, Ecuador. Senior Officials for Trade, comprising the Council on Trade and Competitiveness (CTC), met throughout the year and facilitated committee-level work. Committees under the CTC include Trade Rules and Transparency, Inclusive Trade and SME, Sustainable Value and Supply Chains, Trade and Labor, and Trade and Environment.
In July, 2024, in Bogota, Colombia, Partnership counties convened to share experiences in implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), focusing on Border Agency Cooperation, Single Windows, and Pre-Arrival Processing. As a result of this exchange, Ministers adopted a Declaration on Pre-Arrival Processing during the Quito Ministerial. Another TFA event is planned for 2025. The Partnership is also advancing cooperative work on use of digital or electronic signatures for trade, preparing an Inclusive Trade Inventory of each country partner’s programs for its SMEs, developing public-private workshops to generate regional value and supply chains in the medical device and other sectors, developing a program to support implementation of the 2022 Summit of the Americas Declaration on Good Regulatory Practices, and planning a workshop on “Supporting Climate Solutions Through Trade.”
See links below for documents related to the Americas Partnership Trade Track:
East Room Declaration November 2023
Ministerial Joint Statement March 2024
Ministerial Joint Statement August 2024
Ministerial Declaration on Pre-Arrival Processing August 2024
Senior Officials Readout February 2024
Joint Statement by Committee on Trade and Environment September 2024
Trade Facilitation Dialogue Compendium
Good Regulatory Practices – Summit of the Americas Declaration
Americas Partnership SME Inclusive Trade Inventory
