Chemistry industry leads the way to win-win-win NAFTA outcomes

September 11, 2017

On September 7, the national associations representing the chemistry industry in North America provided their respective North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) negotiating teams with comprehensive advice in two joint statements that will contribute to improved outcomes for all three partners to NAFTA.

Following on the release of a joint statement  earlier this year outlining the benefits the North American chemistry industry has delivered through NAFTA over the past 23 years, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC), the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the Asociación Nacional de la Industria Química (ANIQ) in Mexico, have now provided consensus advice on the important negotiating  issues of Rules of Origin and Regulatory Cooperation under a modernized NAFTA.

“Implementation of these agreed positions will encourage regulatory harmonization capable of protecting people and the environment in all three countries while also spurring innovation and improving our overall regional position in the highly competitive global chemistry sector,” says Bob Masterson, CIAC’s President and CEO.

Masterson added, “A great amount of effort by our respective associations and the industry in all three countries has gone into landing on these consensus positions. We are leading the way in demonstrating that there are indeed opportunities to modernize NAFTA while delivering benefits to all three partners to the agreement.”

Since entering into force in 1994, NAFTA has facilitated economic growth, job creation, and enhanced co-operation in the North American chemistry industry. Over the past 23 years, trade in chemicals between NAFTA countries has more than tripled, from $20 billion in 1994 to $63 billion in 2014.

Representatives from the CIAC, ACC and ANIQ will be meeting with the NAFTA negotiating teams on the margins of the upcoming third round of negotiations, to be held in Ottawa, Canada in late September.