For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 2, 2002

Fact Sheet: Economics and Trade

Positive Economic Agenda

The United States and the EU are seeking to enhance transatlantic economic cooperation through practical, forward-leaning undertakings intended to yield tangible benefits for both businesses and consumers in a realistic timeframe. Initial areas of activity under this "positive economic agenda" include: Financial Services, Regulatory Cooperation, E-Procurement and Customs, and Agriculture.

Financial Services

• Financial Market Dialogue - United States financial officials, including representatives from the Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Reserve, are engaged with their EU counterparts to ensure that European capital market liberalization is achieved in a non-discriminatory manner and are market transparent, efficient, and protect against risk.

Regulatory Cooperation

• Regulatory Cooperation in the Insurance Sector - The United States and the EU are looking for new approaches to regulatory cooperation in the insurance field.

• Guidelines for Regulatory Cooperation - In April 2002, the United States and the EU completed long-running negotiations on a set of "Guidelines on Regulatory Cooperation and Transparency" intended to reduce regulatory-based trade disputes. Two pilot projects are being launched under this agreement:

• a new framework on automotive safety regulation cooperation and

• cooperation on accreditation requirements for laboratories which perform crash testing of road safety equipment.

Procurement and Customs

• Electronic Procurement - The United States and the EU will work to increase one another's access to on-line tendering for government purchases.

• Electronic Customs - The United States and the EU are working to intensify on-line processing of customs documentation.

Agriculture

• Organic Food - The United States and the EU seek to harmonize labeling requirements and other issues involving each side's organic food regulations.

• Sanitary and Phytosanitary Issues - The United States and the EU will work to expeditiously resolve issues surrounding the importation of Spanish clementines into the United States and the importation of United States poultry into the EU.

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