UNITED STATES-MEXICO-CANADA
TRILATERAL TRANSPORTATION MEETING

Tucson, Arizona
April 27, 2007

MINISTERIAL DECLARATION

Building on the spirit of cooperation, collaboration and accomplishment that has characterized the relationship among Canada, Mexico and the United States and which is embodied in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), we the Ministers responsible for Transportation in North America, have met this day in Tucson, Arizona in order to confirm and advance our commitment to developing coordinated, compatible and interconnected national transportation systems. We affirm that such systems will support our shared vision for increased economic and social development, trade, tourism, cooperation and a healthy environment among our countries in the 21st century. We have met for the first time in Tucson to consider the future of our shared transportation interests in an increasingly globalized world. We have determined that this meeting will be the first of periodic meetings of transport ministers to monitor travel and trade trends, to continue discussions on future transportation needs, to reassess the priorities that we have set today and to chart our progress in light of our objectives.

During our discussions we have highlighted the fact that the globalization of our economies has yielded strong economic benefits to our citizens but that it has also put pressure on our ports, borders and airports. We have further recognized that because many of our most important infrastructure facilities are located in urban areas, greater volumes of international freight and passenger traffic, when combined with increasing local traffic, and without off-setting policies and programs will result in greater congestion, delay, degradation of environmental quality and higher shipping and travel costs.

We recognize that real economic benefits in North America result from open and fair trade, transparency in economic regulations, and sound, market-based economic policies, including appropriate regulatory frameworks, and genuine, innovative partnerships between the public and private sectors. We are convinced of the important role that a safe, efficient, well-integrated, and accessible transportation system with minimized environmental impact plays in the growth of trade of our nations and in the health and wellbeing of our citizens. We believe that actions to facilitate commerce across our borders in all modes of transport, especially in road transport, will improve supply chain and logistics processes and provide for continued North American competitiveness. In this regard, we recognize a need for adequate transportation infrastructure and efficient transportation services within and between our countries.

Building on our strong cooperative spirit, we have agreed on several core objectives to guide our future work. These are: 1) to continue to improve the safety, security, and efficiency of North American transportation systems, including gateways, 2) to ensure the adoption of new technologies and procedures, and investments in infrastructure improvements, 3) to improve intermodal connections, and 4) to expand the capacity of our freight and passenger transportation systems in partnership with other stakeholders, while minimizing transportation’s effect on the environment.


NEXT STEPS

We, the Ministers, recognize that our meeting today must be followed by action. Accordingly, we commit ourselves to beginning a process that, during the next ten years, will achieve the following specific outcomes, linked to the above objectives:
Aviation Cooperation
1) Expand air relationships in a timely manner to meet the increasing demand for air services in North America with equitable opportunities for the three countries

2) Advance seamless air transport systems in North America.

3) Implement in the near term agreed core principles that will govern fractionally owned aircraft within North America

Trade Facilitation Cooperation

4) Improve the safety, security, efficiency and seamlessness of continental transport of people and goods.

Safety Cooperation


5) Develop seamless and systematic collection, sharing, and analysis of transportation and safety data across North America.

6) Reduce transportation related fatalities and injuries in North America



Regulatory and Information Cooperation


7) Create a mechanism or enhance existing mechanism(s) to increase transparency in the regulatory process, exchange best practices, and share information among regulators with the intent to strengthen trilateral regulatory cooperation and the compatibility of regulations.


We recognize these outcomes will challenge us and our successors and that for some there will be intermediate steps in their attainment.

To achieve these outcomes we will intensify our collaboration both bilaterally and trilaterally as appropriate. We will also be working through the existing vehicle of the Security and Prosperity Partnership initiative which has already yielded important and positive results across a wide spectrum of government cooperation among our three nations, and we will be working through other forums or creating new forums as specific plans and requirements evolve. As we come to the end of the first Global Road Safety Week, designed to raise awareness about the toll of road traffic deaths and injuries worldwide, we commit to improving road safety in North America through cooperation on effective programs designed to improve safety on our roadways.


CONCLUSION

We the Ministers responsible for transportation in North America are taking the opportunity presented here in Tucson to begin a new process of engagement to cooperatively and collaboratively assess the transportation needs of the NAFTA countries in light of changing global trade and tourism trends and the possible consequences of those changing trends on congestion, economic development and the environment. Our challenge, and that of our successors, is long term. We welcome this opportunity, and through sustained cooperation and goodwill, commit ourselves to achieving tangible results.