Meech Lake, Quebec – Lawrence Cannon, Canada’s Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, along with U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters and Mexican Secretary of Communications and Transportation Luis Téllez Kuenzler, have signed a Trilateral Ministerial Declaration between the three countries. The declaration is the result of a 2007 meeting in which the three convened to better coordinate compatible transportation policies and systems.

The Ministry of Transportation confirms that the following steps have been taken:

• The governments have launched national transportation infrastructures that, taken together, will develop gateways and trade corridors and better allow the countries to maximize the opportunities associated with global supply chains. Canada and the U.S. have strengthened collaboration to enhance crossing capacity at the Windsor-Detroit Gateway, while the U.S. and Mexico have taken important steps toward fulfilling components of the NAFTA’s trucking provisions.
• The countries are working to enhance safety across transportation modes and to share best practices, and have taken steps to put in place compatible and environmentally ambitious fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks.
• Canada and the U.S. signed an Open Skies agreement in 2007, and have made significant progress in liberalizing their respective air services with Mexico through the expansion of existing air service.

Next steps reaffirmed in the objectives set out in the 2007 meeting include the harmonization of vehicle safety regulations, such as with regard to electronic stability control; improved crash avoidance and crashworthiness of light- and heavy-duty vehicles and harmonized regulations at the bilateral and multilateral levels; congestion reduction at major border crossings; and compatible rail safety regulations where appropriate.