On Friday 19 January, the European Commission launched a call for proposals for regulatory cooperation activities in the Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) under the EU-Canada free trade agreement (CETA), which provisionally entered into force on 21 September 2017.
Work is underway to implement CETA's institutional structure to govern the different aspects of the agreement and ensure its correct implementation.
This institutional structure includes the RCF mechanism, which is aimed at developing voluntary regulatory cooperation between the parties on a voluntary basis. It in no way limits the ability of the parties to carry out their own regulatory, legislative and policy activities, the Commission states.
To prepare the first meeting of the RCF, which is scheduled to take place in mid-2018, the Commission is seeking to develop a list of potential topics where EU and Canadian regulators can cooperate in the future.
Chapter 21 of CETA defines a broad scope for regulatory cooperation activities, including regulatory measures related to technical barriers to trade, sanitary phytosanitary aspects, trade in services, trade and sustainable development, trade and labour, and trade and the environment, health, safety, animal and plant life.
The Commission invites input from all stakeholders and interested parties, including representatives from academia, think-tanks, civil society, non-governmental organisations, trade unions, businesses, consumer and other organisations in identifying sectors and issues where there is a high interest for regulatory cooperation between the EU and Canada.
Further information can be found at: https://goo.gl/QiDrWL . (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)