U.S. Customs to enact new border-clearance procedures at Peace Bridge

BUFFALO, N.Y. (Oct. 5, 1999) — U.S. Customs will enact new procedures for trucks entering the United States at the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, N.Y., in an effort to alleviate bridge congestion and improve shipment processing times.

Starting Nov. 1, all commercial vehicle drivers using the Peace Bridge crossing will be required to report to the Commercial Vehicle Processing Center (CVPC) before crossing into the U.S.

The CVPC is located on the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge.

Drivers will submit their U.S. Customs documentation to CVPC personnel, who will affix a bar code identifier to the documentation and fax it to the designated U.S. broker’s office. The documentation will be returned to the driver. The driver will then have to wait about 30 minutes before proceeding across the bridge. During this time, the designated U.S. broker will prepare and submit the data to U.S. Customs.

These new procedures affect all commercial ground shipments except for empty trailers/loads; line release shipments (less-than-truckload carriers must have all shipments on board covered under line release); in transit (IT) and transportation and exportation (T&E) shipments; and pre-processed shipments already using the PAPS program.

Shipments meeting the above criteria will be allowed to bypass the CVPC and proceed directly to U.S. Customs.

The procedures affect only commercial ground shipments at the Peace Bridge crossing. Rail shipments and shipments crossing at any other port of entry, including Lewiston, N.Y., are not affected.