Truckers succeeding in spite of NAFTA, Bradley says

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (May 30, 2002) — The leader of Canada’s largest trucking industry lobby group said truckers have benefited from the explosion of crossborder trade in spite of regulators who have failed to implement trucking provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“The growth in trade the NAFTA countries have enjoyed, and which the trucking industry has benefited from, has taken place in spite of the fact that most of the land transportation provisions have not been implemented,” Canadian Trucking Alliance chief executive David Bradley told government and business leaders attending a NAFTA Land Transport Conference in San Antonio.

He said the problems started in 1995 when the United States unilaterally decided not to implement the NAFTA agreement to open the southern border to trucks from Mexico amid stiff opposition from labour and safety groups. The Bush administration has pledged to liberalize access as soon as next month.

Bradley said legitimate domestic policy concerns remain that will have to be addressed within the NAFTA context.

“How can we talk of free trade and maximizing productivity and efficiency when cabotage laws continue to preclude our carriers and drivers from making even the simplest repositioning moves in the other country?” he said. “Or when junior governments implement taxes and subsidies that if not technically illegal, are at least in conflict with the spirit of NAFTA and international trade norms?”

Bradley admitted that “In the past CTA has argued, out of frustration over delays in implementation of border access and harmonization provisions, that NAFTA simply did not exist in trucking.”

He concluded by saying that while the future holds promise, “we have a long way to go.”