Regulatory Development for Marine Safety and Security

Closing Summary

The 2016-2017 Canada-US Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Work Plan related to Regulatory Development for Marine Safety and Security is now closed. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Transport Canada (TC) will continue to improve regulatory processes and coordination, use the same standards when appropriate, and collaborate at international fora. While TC and USCG agreed to close this work plan, its objectives, which are to promote collaboration and discussions on regulatory cooperation and alignment, are ongoing.

Regulatory area to be addressed

Regulatory Development for Marine Safety and Security

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and Transport Canada (TC) will strengthen bilateral regulatory cooperation by addressing areas to collaborate to enhance mutual regulatory effectiveness while reducing unnecessary differences, to the greatest extent practicable, and enhance cost-effective stakeholder compliance while maintaining or increasing the overall level of maritime safety, security, and environmental protection. Three work streams will be addressed:

1. Regulatory Processes
2. Standards
3. International Forums

Work stream A – Regulatory Processes

The USCG and TC develop regulations which impact the maritime community. The USCG and TC strive to ensure that their regulations provide maximum net benefits while enhancing maritime safety, security, and environmental protection. Many companies operate vessels in both US and Canadian waters and must comply with the regulations of both countries. This work stream addresses potential ways to reduce unnecessary regulatory burden and impediments to trade through greater coordination.

Department/Agency

1.1 Increase understanding of each partner’s regulatory development process for the maritime domain in order to prevent unnecessary regulatory misalignments.

February 2015 – February 2018

USCG and TC will compare regulatory development processes in order to identify actions that will improve bilateral coordination and avoid regulatory misalignments as the partners undertake regulatory development.

USCG and TC will identify and report on key steps to systemically avoid unnecessary bilateral misalignments and improve coordination of the partners’ regulatory processes while maintaining or improving overall maritime safety, security, environmental protection and ensuring cost-beneficial outcomes.

Planned initiatives and sub-deliverables	Date
Post this work plan on CG-REG and TC websites.	Completed – April 2015
TC and USCG to provide overview to each other of their respective processes.	Completed – May 2015
Identify potential processes for improvement.	September 2016
Identify key areas, procedures or actions to improve regulatory coordination with each partner.	November 2016
Address key areas identified and communicate any changes and status to stakeholders accordingly.	January 2017
Update annual Work Plan as appropriate.	Ongoing – June of each year
Finalize work incorporating identified improvements.	February 2018

Work stream B – Standards

The USCG and TC incorporate standards by reference in order to reduce the number of government unique standards, thereby eliminating unnecessary regulatory burden on the maritime community.

Department/Agency

1.1 Enhance standards development and incorporation by reference into regulations.

February 2015 – February 2018

USCG and TC will explore opportunities to support mutual recognition of standards from standards development organizations (SDOs) that operate in both countries and identify areas where SDOs may be able to align their processes between the partners.

Planned initiatives and sub-deliverables	Date
Post this work plan on CG-REG and TC websites.	Completed – April 2015
SCG to provide TC list of standards incorporated into regulations.	Completed – May 2015
TC to identify which incorporated standards are used by both countries.	August 2016
Engage SDOs to identify ways to reduce differences between like SDOs in both nations, eg, an SDO may have slightly different standards for a like product in each country.	September 2016 – June 2017
Identify areas to utilize international standards to enhance uniformity.	December 2017
Identify areas and actions to improve governmental and SDO processes and update way forward during annual review of work plan as required	February 2017
Address key areas identified and communicate status to stakeholders accordingly.	February 2017 - February 2018
Finalize work incorporating identified improvements.	February 2018

Work stream C – International Forums

The USCG and TC participate in numerous international forums where we share interests, such as the International Maritime Organization. This work stream explores opportunities to better align positions in international forums, where possible (eg, cooperate in developing of joint positions as appropriate on international standards; adopt common approaches to implementation etc).

Department/Agency

1.1 Explore areas to enhance engagement in other international forums, including the International Maritime Organization.

February 2015 – February 2017

The USCG and TC develop international position papers which impact the maritime community in both countries. The USCG and TC will explore opportunities to discuss potential alignment of position papers

Planned initiatives and sub-deliverables	Date
Post this work plan on CG-REG and TC websites.	Completed – April 2015
USCG and TC to review EO 13609 and use as applicable for basis of coordinating efforts.	Completed – June 2015
Review processes for joint review and alignment in development of international positions.	Completed – April 2016
Annual Work Plan review and way forward on key areas to address.	Completed – May 2016
Continue refinement.	June 2016 – January 2017
Finalize work incorporating identified improvements.	February 2017