Alberta’s government has tabled legislation to ease regulations and barriers to more easily enable the sale of some goods from other provinces.

It’s part of a commitment Alberta made with its provincial and federal counterparts in signing an interprovincial free trade pact in November.

That trade accord, which is supposed to take effect this summer, would see provinces recognize each other’s regulations for most consumer and capital products to avoid duplicative inspections and requirements.

The agreement doesn’t apply to the sale of alcohol, cannabis, food, live animals, tobacco or plants, and it lets provinces maintain certain restrictions on items for health and safety reasons.

Alberta is keeping its own rules in place for several products, including pesticides, plumbing equipment and safety helmets.

Another Alberta exemption is for gift cards, which the province requires to have no expiry date. The province retains the right to add or remove items from the list of goods and they must still meet Alberta rules.

Jobs and Economy Minister Joseph Schow said that despite the limitations, he expects the new rules will have a major economic effect for the province.

“This is a great news story for small- and medium-sized businesses,” he said. “These are mom and pop shops, in some cases, where they don’t have a lot of staff, and the last thing they want to be dealing with is cumbersome regulation.”

He added that for years in Canada, it has sometimes been easier for businesses to sell products internationally rather than to other provinces.

Schow said by eliminating red tape, businesses will be able to expand and access new markets without having to bring on more staff, or hire lawyers or consultants to deal with regulations.

Heather Thomson at the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce said at the government news conference that having consistency across the country will open doors for businesses and allow them to scale up.

“This means more time spent on hiring, innovating and selling,” she said. “It gives Alberta businesses the competitive edge that they need to succeed, not just here, but across the entire country.”

Government officials told reporters before the bill was tabled that manufacturers in industries such as oil and gas, lumber and logging and fertilizer producers will likely see the most positive impact once the pact takes effect.

Provinces such as Ontario and British Columbia have already introduced similar pieces of legislation to implement the commitments in November’s agreement.

Alberta officials told reporters that the government purposely waited longer so it could study and learn from what other provinces did.

Thursday’s bill also sets out the process for future mutual recognition agreements between provinces to be implemented.

Schow didn’t provide specifics about what future deals he’d like to ink, noting only that the legislation allows the government to be nimble and make changes without reconvening the legislature as needed.

Opposition NDP jobs critic Rhiannon Hoyle said the legislation is good news for businesses and the economy, but she would have like to have seen it sooner, given long-standing business interest in seeing trade barriers removed.

Small business wants more

Keyli Loeppky, director of Alberta and interprovincial affairs with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), said Alberta’s bill would go further than the national trade commitment by making it easier for services to cross borders.

“We would really like to see everything included as part of mutual recognition,” Loeppky said. “All goods, all services, all labour, being able to move freely across Canada.”

The legislation would be beneficial for businesses that want to operate in multiple provinces and would provide consumers with more choices, she said.

The exclusion of food and alcohol in the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement on the Sale of Goods continues to frustrate small business, Loeppky said.

“Canada is supposed to be united economic union, and we’re not seeing that with the movement of alcohol,” she said. “I think provinces do need to let go of some of the protectionism and open up to the great products that we have across the country.”

Schow referred questions about a memorandum of understanding between the 10 provinces and Yukon about direct-to-consumer alcohol sales to his cabinet colleague in charge of red tape reduction.

The trade bill as drafted would also be a relief to manufacturers, whose products require separate provincial inspections in jurisdictions with nearly identical standards, said Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

Darby said the bill would also benefit the oil and gas industry, which relies on parts and materials often manufactured in other provinces.

He said he’d like provinces to reduce the number of trade exemptions, including Alberta’s exemption for pressure vessels.