Ottawa – September 23, 2010 -Gord Brown, Member of Parliament for Leeds-Grenville, traveled to Washington on Sept. 21 to engage in trade talks with United States legislators and trade officials.

As Co-Chair of the Canadian Section of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group (IPG),  he spoke to participants at the annual fall meeting of the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance (BTA) and he spoke with Chairman Collin Peterson of the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, Chairman Jim Oberstar, House of Representatives Chair of the IPG, New York Representative Bill Owens, and Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, the Honourable Gary Doer.

“I am fortunate to be invited twice each year to speak at the BTA’s conferences, which are invaluable opportunities to share information about the IPG’s recent and planned activities regarding important bilateral issues,” says Brown.

“We are also able to gain insight about problems being experienced by businesses and individuals in respect of trade and tourism as well as about efforts and actions by governments in both countries to address these problems,” he adds.

He was pleased to be able to meet with Ambassador Doer about such issues as the proposed Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act, and to speak briefly with Chairman Peterson – who has attended past annual meetings of the IPG – about country-of-origin labeling.

As well, the meeting with his House of Representatives counterpart, Chairman Oberstar, gave us an opportunity to discuss future activities of the IPG, including the upcoming annual meeting.

Finally, he was pleased to speak with Representative Owens, who is from a border state and whose district is directly across the border from my constituency.
“Attendance at the BTA conference as well as meetings with my American counterparts and Ambassador Doer resulted in a very informative and productive day in Washington,” he concludes.

The Can/Am Border Trade Alliance (BTA) holds two meetings each year: in the spring in Ottawa and in the fall in Washington, D.C. The BTA is a coalition of businesses, public-sector organizations and individuals with an interest in bilateral trade and tourism. Its mission is to maximize commercial activity and ensure continued growth in cross-border trade as well as efficient and productive border-crossing capabilities.
The Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group aims to find points of convergence in respective national policies, to initiate dialogue on points of divergence, to encourage the exchange of information and to promote better understanding among legislators on shared issues of concern. Additional information on the Group can be found at www.parl.gc.ca/iia/us.