Truck lobby group supportive of border plan

OTTAWA (Dec. 13, 2001) — Canada’s largest trucking industry lobby group praised yesterday’s “smart border” accord between the United States and Canada, saying the sight of endless lineups of trucks waiting to cross the border may be a thing of the past.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance said the agreement represents an historic change in Canada-US border management. The association’s chief executive officer David Bradley said the announcement “signals the start of an era of border bilateralism that will serve both countries well.”

The agreement, signed today by Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley and Tom Ridge, director of the U.S. Office of Homeland Security, outlines a 30-point plan for a more secure and trade-efficient border.

The deal “puts to rest the view that somehow security and trade facilitation were mutually exclusive. In fact, what the agreement does is prove that they are two sides of the same coin,” said Bradley.

He noted that the trucking industry as long called for harmonization of commercial processes, the clearance of shipments before they reach the border, as well as the establishment of dedicated lanes for low-risk goods.