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NAFTA TWG on Pesticides
NAFTA TWG Labeling
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Technical Working Group (TWG) on Pesticides was established in 1997 to streamline certain pesticide shipments between Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Their primary objective is to develop easier and less expensive pesticide regulation and trade among the three countries and meet the environmental, ecological, and human health objectives of NAFTA. TWG partners address trade issues, national regulatory and scientific capacity, governmental review burden, and they coordinate regulatory decisionmaking and industry burden reduction.
In 2003, the TWG issued a five-year strategy entitled, The North American Initiative: The Next Five Years (PDF)(13 pp, 163K About PDF). This document reaffirmed the overarching goals of the TWG'S 1997 strategic plan and outlined key objectives and work areas to guide the TWG’s efforts through 2008. Many of the TWG’s accomplishments are outlined in the North American Initiative Milestone Report, as well as individual TWG project completion sheets. The TWG is currently working on development of a new strategic plan to go into effect when the current five-year strategy is completed.
The TWG is led by an Executive Board that provides overall guidance and policy direction. The Executive Board members are:
- Director of the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP),
- Executive Director of the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), and
- General Director for Agri-foods, Aquaculture, and Fisheries in the Mexican agriculture ministry known as Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca y Alimentación (SAGARPA)
The TWG Secretariat provides overall coordination of the TWG’s activities and consists of staff-level representatives from all three countries. There are several projects under way, guided by NAFTA project teams made up of representatives from the various agencies.
There are two NAFTA TWG meetings a year: a government-only meeting with the Executive Board and other regulatory officials and a government-stakeholder meeting with the Executive Board, regulatory officials, and interested stakeholders such as growers, industry, and public interest groups. The public is consulted in advance of these meetings to identify topics of interest, and public meeting summaries are published to report on key outcomes from the meetings.
NAFTA TWG Partners
- Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency NAFTA TWG site
- Sagarpa Web site (Spanish)
- Cofepris Web site (Spanish), (English)