Sunday no day of rest for food haulers

TORONTO, (March 1, 2004) — Ontario truckers are asking the Food and Drug Administration to open up shop on Sundays at the Peace Bridge or the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge.

The Ontario Trucking Association wants Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Joe Cordiano, and Canadian Consul General for Buffalo, Roger Marsham, to help create Sunday hours of operation at the Port.

The OTA says that FDA’s absence on Sundays has in some instances caused uncertainties and delays in clearing certain food shipments for delivery to the U.S. Some U.S. plants close to the border in New York and Pennsylvania have actually had to suspend operations pending FDA clearance of the product, the OTA says.

Ota says a possible reason for the absence of Sunday hours of operation at the Port may be found in the terms of the FDA union contract. “Putting up a closed sign at the FDA offices at a major U.S. port of entry on the weekends has never made sense,” OTA President David Bradley said. “In this new age of security it is detrimental to the economic health of Ontario.”