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Working Group Mandate
Within the context of the North American Free Trade
Agreement, the range of initiatives and discussions undertaken by the Land Transport
Standards Subcommittee were designed to address the objectives of:
·
elimination of barriers in trade, and
facilitation of cross border movement of goods and services between the
territories of the Parties
·
promotion of conditions of fair
competition in the free trade area
·
creation of effective procedures for
the implementation and application of the agreement, for its joint
resolution and for resolution of disputes
More specifically, the mandate of the LTSS contained in
the NAFTA agreement was as follows:
1. The Land Transportation Standards Subcommittee,
established under Article 913(5)(a)(i), shall comprise representatives of
each Party.
2. The Subcommittee shall implement the following work
program for making compatible the Parties' relevant standards-related
measures for:
a) bus and truck operations
i) no later than one and one-half
years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, for non-medical
standards-related measures respecting drivers, including measures relating
to the age of and language used by drivers,
ii) no later than two and one-half
years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, for medical
standards-related measures respecting drivers,
iii) no later than three years after the
date of entry into force of this Agreement, for standards-related measures
respecting vehicles, including measures relating to weights and dimensions,
tires, brakes, parts and accessories, securement of cargo, maintenance and
repair, inspections, and emissions and environmental pollution levels not
covered by the Automotive Standards Council's work program established
under Annex 913.5.a-3,
iv) no later than three years after
the date of entry into force of this Agreement, for standards-related
measures respecting each Party's supervision of motor carriers' safety
compliance, and
v) no later than three years after the
date of entry into force of this Agreement, for standards-related measures
respecting road signs;
b) rail operations
i) no later than one year after the
date of entry into force of this Agreement, for standards-related measures
respecting operating personnel that are relevant to crossborder operations,
and
ii) no later than one year after the
date of entry into force of this Agreement, for standards-related measures
respecting locomotives and other rail equipment; and
c) transportation of dangerous goods, no later than six
years after the date of entry into force of this Agreement, using as their
basis the United Nations Recommendations on the Transport of Dangerous
Goods, or such other standards as the Parties may agree.
3. The Subcommittee may address other related
standards-related measures as it considers appropriate.
Within this mandate, the working group on vehicle weights
and dimensions was formed to address the objective of pursuing
compatibility of standards related measures respecting vehicle weights and
dimensions.
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