Border Trade Alliance

BTA would like to thank the dedicated speakers and attendees of the BTA Int. Conference 2008: Understanding Wait-times: Border Delays’ Impacts on Trade. The international conference and congressional briefing, brought together international business, border community, federal agency, and Congressional Leaders to focus on the importance of identifying solutions to address increased wait-times and delays at land ports of entry that adversely impact our local, regional and national economies. The following summary includes photos and presentations from the conference. More photos and videos will be posted as they become available:

The Infrastructure Challenge

Keynote Speaker - The Honorable Lurita A. Doan, Administrator, General Services Administration

Lurita Doan, Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), discussed GSA’s efforts at our land ports that have resulted in a building boom underway along the northern and southern borders of the United States, building more inspection booths, lanes, bridges and other infrastructure to speed the secure flow of legitimate trade and travel. For the first time in over a decade, GSA is simultaneously constructing four new Ports of Entry at Jackman, Maine; Calais, Maine; San Luis, Arizona; and Donna, Texas. The Administrator was adamant about cooperation and encouraged border communities to get involved and share their input with GSA and Congress.

“Years of inattention coupled with explosive growth in North American trade have turned many of our nation’s ports of entry into parking lots where legitimate trade and travel is bogged down in mile-long delays that can extend for hours,” Doan said. “We can do better and we must do better, so GSA is taking the lead in this effort. We are committed to building what we can, where we can, as fast as we can.”

Following her keynote address, BTA awarded Administrator Doan the prestigious, tri-national, “Friend of the Americas Award” for her support of and commitment to border trade, economic development and improved efficiencies at our nation’s land border ports of entry. View the press release about the FOA award…

U.S. Dept Of Commerce Perspective

Keynote Speaker - The Honorable Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary, U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez discussed coordinating strategies to enhance North American competitiveness and meet new 21st Century challenges. He outlined the work his department is doing to address challenges facing North American business and the need to continue to push to decrease border wait-times and encourage secure and efficient trade throughout the NAFTA nations. A video of the presentation will be available shorty, please check back soon.

2nd Day Opening Address

Keynote Speaker - The Honorable Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Senator, Texas

Senator Hutchison (R-TX) addressed the current challenges that plague secure and efficient cross-border trade throughout the Southern Border Region of the US. Recognizing the important need to confirm the impact of wait-times on trade and commerce, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and Congressman Ciro D. Rodriguez have introduced and pressed for the passage of legislation (S.2425 and H.R. 4309) that requires the study of the economic impact of the growing wait-times experienced at land border crossings in the United States, as the lack of comprehensive statistics regarding the scope and impact of wait-times at our land ports has made it difficult for policy-makers in Washington to determine the appropriate federal response. The BTA strongly supports these measures and is pressing Congress for their swift passage.

Congressional Outlook

Keynote Speaker: The Honorable John Cornyn, U.S. Senator, Texas

Senator Cornyn (R-TX) addressed the need to bring awareness of the border to the Nation at large and presented the Emergency Port of Entry Personnel and Infrastructure Funding Act. The bill, introduced in Congress last Dec. 13, would deal with long waits at the U.S. ports of entry on the Southern border adding more pedestrian and vehicle inspection lanes, increase U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and provide them with recruitment and retention incentives. Additionally, he addressed the current rhetoric and developing policy positions against NAFTA. Read the article in the El Paso Times…

BTA Congressional Briefing on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.

Opening the conference, the BTA Congressional staff briefing on the issue of Wait-times afforded the opportunity for Presidential Community and Corporate level members to address congress face-to-face on prescient border issues, opening a dialog with congressional offices to affect change in border policies and perspectives. BTA President Maria Luisa O’Connell, closed the briefing with an in depth policy analysis of the many contributing factors affecting cross-border wait-times, reiterating the impacts of border congestion on the aggregate economies the US and North America at large.

Download the BTA policy briefing…

Immediately following the briefing, the conference opened with BTA Committee Forums that sought to examine border delay impacts and solutions through the policy perspectives of experts in agriculture, environment, imports/exports, infrastructure, travel/immigration, and border technology. The following is an overview of the panel speakers and presentations for each of the forum topics:

Border Technology Forum

Addressed challenges at our international borders by identifying best practices for the implementation of technology and advocating for the efficient use of resources.

Presented by: Ms. Kay H. Olive, Principal, Olive Strategies

Agribusiness and Fisheries & Environment and Health Forum

Discussion focused on the difficulties faced in the North America markets for international livestock trade, water conservation issues, and the environmental impact of wait times and the border fence.

Mr. Jerry A. Kurtzweg, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Download the presentation

Mr. Rene F. Ochoa, SAGARPA (MX) - Download the presentation

Travel and Immigration Forum

Presenters focused on the merits of the EDL, PASS Card and other forms of government-issued identification that will be accepted under the requirements of WHTI along with the progress made as we continue toward full-implementation.

Ms. Liz Luce, Director, Washington State Department of Licensing - Download the presentation

Mr. Woody Staeben, Senior Advisor for WHTI, U.S. Department of State

Ms. Colleen Manaher, Director, WHTI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Download the presentation

Import/Export Forum

Addressed issues that impact the secure and efficient movement of goods at U.S. land border crossings and examined current issues, policies and programs, such as the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, that affect global trade at our international borders.

Mr. Bradd Skinner, Director, C-TPAT, US Customs and Border Protection - Download the presentation

Mr. Russ Jones, President, R.L. Jones Customs Brokers, Inc. - Download the presentation

Ms. Kathleen Neal, Director, Trade Compliance, A.O. Smith Corporation - Download the presentation

Infrastructure Forum

A distinguished panel of economists from CSIS and Congressional Research Service, discussed the important macro & micro economic impacts of inefficiencies in supply chains and international trade, vowing to take back the unique perspectives addressed by BTA members regarding cross-border trade barriers resulting from congestion at Port of Entry. These unique economic perspectives were complimented by first-hand accounts from the Northern US Border Blue Water Bridge authority operations. BTA is working to bring these economic perspectives to a series of BTA podcasts over the coming months.

Mr. Sidney Weintraub, William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy, Center for Strategic and International Studies

Mr. Blas Nuñez-Neto, Analyst in Domestic Security, Congressional Research Service

Mr. Stan Korosec, Vice-President/Operations, Blue Water Bridge Authority

Solutions forum

Microsoft presented a proposed solution for monitoring US Border activity using Microsoft Virtual Earth Technology.

Impact on California: A Border Perspective

Keynote Speaker - The Honorable Bob Filner, U.S. Representative, California

Congressman Filner (D-CA) asserted that wait times are not only intolerable - they are counter productive to national security - efficiency is security. In a lively discussion on the San Diego/San Ysidro region challenges posed by significant border delays, Congressman Filner called on the BTA and others to form a broader coalition of united border regions to bring a more powerful voice to the importance of efficient border policies and practices. Additionally, the Congressman, a Democratic Party Super-delegate addressed the current rhetoric and positions of the current democratic presidential candidates regarding NAFTA, Free-Trade, and Border issues.

BTA Conference Reception

Keynote Speaker - The Honorable Silvestre Reyes, U.S. Representative, Texas

Congressman Reyes (D-TX), addressed the conference attendees in a reception monday night hosted by the BTA, announcing his new PORTs ACT legislation to create a long-term solution to improve security and the timely movement of travelers and goods through our nation’s land ports of entry. “Inadequate staffing and outdated infrastructure at our land ports of entry are detrimental to our national security and have led to long and frustrating delays for those who use them,” said Congressman Reyes. Read the official press release and details of the legislation…

Economic Impacts Panel

Mr. Khalid Bekka, Ph.D., Vice President, HDR | HLB Decision Economics Inc. - Download the presentation

Mr. Victor M. Carrillo, District 1 Supervisor, Imperial County - Download the presentation

Mr. Manny Rodriguez, US-VISIT, U.S. Department of Homeland Security - Download the presentation

Border Security Operations Perspective

Speaker -Mr. Thomas S. Winkowski, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection

CBP is the guardian of the United States borders. Responsible for enforcing the laws of the United States, while simultaneously mandated with fostering our economic security through lawful international trade and travel. CBP’s policies and programs impact the cross-border experience, and Ass. Comm. Winkowski graciously addressed BTA members, fielding questions and input on current and future practices, programs, and policies.

Neighboring Perspectives: US, Mexico, & Canada Panel

Panelists addressed the fact that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hinges on the efficient movement of legitimate trade and travel. U.S. policies impact our NAFTA partners, and thus they working to pursue new initiatives to keep competitive in a global economy despite the challenges posed by border delays, insufficient funding for secure trade programs, and overburdened infrastructure. Unique to this panel, were the perspectives of our neighboring nations at large and what our border and trade policies communicate about willingness to engage in business, facilitate tourism, and the companies that exist solely because of international trade that are stuck in the middle.

The Honorable Luis Alberto Villarreal García, Presidente de la Comisión de Asuntos Fronterizos Norte, Senado de la República, Mexico - Download the presentation

Mr. Jose M. Garcia, Representative, Ministry of Finance, Mexican Embassy to the United States - Download the presentation

Ms. Karen Phillips, Vice President -North American Government Affairs, Canadian National

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