Over $760 billion in trade using surface transportation took place between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico in 2006− 8.9 percent higher than in 2005.¹ This is no small drop in the bucket for our nation’s economy and certainly no small logistical task when it comes to crossing international borders in today’s age of heightened security.
The driver’s identity and citizenship, the cargo manifest, truck safety, agricultural and customs regulations, and truck and cargo security all have to be checked and verified before a truck can be permitted to enter the country. And that’s just for one truck. In 2006 alone over 6.6 million trucks and over 30 million personal vehicles crossed the U.S.-Canada border and over 4.7 million trucks and over 88 million personal vehicles crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.²
The potential for disruptions at our ports of entry due to heightened security, increased traffic and increasingly longer delays and border wait-times have created additional uncertainty and volatility in moving cargo across our borders. In some cases this has prompted industry to move away from established best business practices, such as just-in-time delivery, reducing the efficiency of the supply-chain.
Our federal government has created and invested millions of dollars into programs such as Operation Safe Commerce, Customs and Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT), Secure Freight Initiative, Automated Customs Environment (ACE) E-manifest, Container Security Initiative and the Megaports Initiative to increase the security of freight transported into the United States and help expedite processing times.
Businesses can voluntarily choose to participate in a program like C-TPAT by ensuring the integrity of their security practices and communicating their security guidelines to their business partners within the supply chain. Through voluntary participation in C-TPAT, businesses undergo a certification process, and in return they should receive benefits like a reduced number of inspections and priority processing for CBP inspections.³ However, with border delays and wait times increasing, some businesses say the often unrealized benefits of premium processing do not justify the cost for them to go through the C-TPAT certification process.
As an advocate organization for the border community, the BTA is committed to playing a key role in facilitating discussions between our government leaders who are tasked with securing our nation’s borders and our business leaders who help bring economic security to our nation.
What is the incentive for business to voluntarily participate in these programs and submit to security screening if we can not provide the benefit of expedited passage of cargo that helps with “just-in-time” delivery and other competitive business practices? There are many well-intentioned programs designed to secure the flow of goods passing through our nation’s border, but are they working? Without the proper support, we are fruitlessly sinking dollars into initiatives that, in the end, aren’t being given the support they need to expedite secure freight and allow our limited resources to focus on suspect cargo.
The real question is what is the adequate level of security for container integrity to ensure for the physical and economic protection of trade and commerce while focusing limited resources on the appropriate threats?
¹ Bureau of Trade Statistics (BTS), U.S. Department of Transportation
² Bureau of Transportation Statistics
³ US Customs and Border Protection
Leave a Reply
The BTA reserves the right to post comments it feels are appropriate to creating a dialog around border issues. We are interested in hearing from all points of view and encourage those with unique, constructive perspectives to contribute their view points to help shape the future of our borders. BTA is a tri-national organization and will not accept posts that contain derogatory comments made towards citizens, groups, or organizations of any kind.