AHAM is a strong advocate for U.S. and Canadian regulatory harmonization that removes barriers to the flow of goods between the countries and benefits consumers. Many home appliance manufacturers are global companies that market their products in the U.S. and Canada. Energy efficiency regulations that are not harmonized can affect consumer choice and increase costs by requiring manufacturers to put their products through duplicate testing. AHAM works with government officials and standards-development organizations from the U.S. and Canada to promote harmonization of efficiency standards and test procedures to reduce the burden on manufacturers.