TPT March 2007

From the AmericaS

For Canadians reliant on American shoppers, the worst probably lies ahead.

Mr Struck writes: “Canadian tourism officials are worried the coming land border restrictions will stop the busy two-way traffic along the 3,145-mile land border. School trips will stop, they fear. Bus journeys by senior citizens to Niagara Falls, Ontario, will dwindle. Convention planners will bypass Canada. And communities that straddle the border will be split because many citizens won’t want the bother or expense of getting a passport.” • According to the US State Department an estimated 27 per cent of US citizens have passports. In Canada, the rate is 40 per cent. Critics urge both countries to make their passports cheaper and easier to get. In Canada, an adult passport costs US$75 and is good for five years. A US adult passport, costing about $22 more, is good for 10 years. In written comments on the new rules, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada said, “An American family of two adults and two children would be required to pay at least $358 in fees for passports” for a Canadian vacation – influencing that family to stay, play, and shop on its own side of the border with Canada. Canada’s 119 border crossings with the US will come under electronic surveillance Canada will spend more than $368 million over the next five years on a plan for monitoring cross-border trade from the United States. On 12 January, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day made his announcement of the Canadian initiative against terrorist, economic, and environmental threats at the border crossing between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan. This segment accounts for one-third of the $1.6 billion in daily trade between Canada and the US which, Mr Day noted, when annualized exceeds the trade between America and Japan. Some $337 million will go toward the electronic program eManifest for computer-automated risk assessment of cargo shipments before they reach Canada. The 18,000 trucks that cross the US-Canada border each day, as well as all railroad, air, and marine cargo carriers, will eventually be required to file electronic manifests before their shipments arrive. This will enable border service agents to decide in advance whether the cargo requires close screening. Mr Day did not give a precise date when the eManifest program would go into effect at the 119 border crossings along Canada’s 4,000-mile border with the US. When it does, background checks on crew and risk assessment of cargo will be in the hands of the Canada Border Services Agency 24 hours in advance of the arrival of shipments by sea, and several hours ahead of railroad, highway, and air cargo. In the meantime, some $10 million of the new Canadian investment in border security will go toward expanding Partners in Protection, a voluntary program in which businesses and their employees help border agents detect and prevent contraband smuggling of drugs and weapons.

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M arch /A pril 2007