WIENS FORGES CONSTRUCTIVE TRADE LINKS IN NORTH DAKOTA

Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs Minister Berny Wiens and a

delegation of senior officials from the provincial departments of

Agriculture and Food, Highways and Transportation and Environment and

Resource Management met yesterday with their North Dakota counterparts

in the State Capitol Building. The purpose of this face-to-face visit

was to address cross-border trade and trade-related irritants and

opportunities between Saskatchewan and North Dakota.



"Over half a billion dollars in two-way trade annually crosses the

Saskatchewan-North Dakota border, and this figure has grown over the

past five years by about 50 per cent," Wiens said. "Our discussions

in Bismarck convinced me that both sides value this trade partnership,

and are willing to work together to expand it to the mutual benefit of

our agricultural producers and other export sectors. We agreed to

work together on common solutions to trade problems that we can

implement locally or, where appropriate, carry a common message to our

respective federal governments for their attention," he said.



Highlights of the meeting include commitments to work together:



in agriculture, to address current trade and economic development

issues such as pesticide/chemical registration, animal and crop

disease control regulations, regional market access of live

cattle and swine, elk and bison production and value-added

projects that draw on the entire region, such as pasta plants;



in transportation, on such trade-related issues as border-

crossing facilities, trucking regulations, road construction

equivalencies, regional air services, and trade corridor

development; and



in environment, on such matters as cross-border ecosystem

and wildlife habitat management, air quality control and

climate change.



"Lieutenant Governor Myrdal and I agreed that, as prairie

neighbours, we share many of the same economic and other

challenges and opportunities. We agreed, therefore, to widen and

deepen the channels of communication, information exchange and

practical co-operation between our two governments, and to work

together to resolve our differences in as collegial a way as

possible," stated Wiens.



Both Wiens and Myrdal encouraged further exchanges by their

respective authorities responsible for justice and economic,

trade and tourism development.



Western Governors have also been invited to attend a session on

Canada-U.S. relations at the Western Premiers' Conference later

this month in Drumheller, Alberta, where similar issues are

expected to be addressed from a western regional perspective.



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For more information, contact:



Rob Cunningham

Intergovernmental and Aboriginal Affairs

Regina

Phone: (306) 787-8008