GHY Tradelines

(Government of Canada)

The Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, and the Honourable Steven Fletcher, Minister of State (Transport), spoke today at the Canadian/American Border Trade Alliance Ottawa Conference on the benefits of and the progress made to date under the Beyond the Border Action Plan.

“Our government continues to make the implementation of the Beyond the Border Action Plan a key priority, and we have made significant progress to date,” said Minister Toews. “We are making the border more efficient by strengthening our security and facilitating trade. This will benefit both travellers and businesses.” Read more here.
 

(Mike Blanchfield – Canadian Press)

The federal budget says new projects related to Canada’s perimeter security deal with the United States will go ahead as planned, despite budget woes south of the border. The federal budget has given the green light to almost a dozen information-sharing and infrastructure projects related to the Beyond the Border initiative between the two countries.

The vaunted deal was announced with fanfare by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama in December 2011 at the White House. The plan aims to speed the flow of goods and people across the 49th parallel while protecting the continent from a terrorist attack. Key to the deal was a series of pilot projects and other initiatives that were timed to roll out over coming years.

However, questions have hung over the future of the border plan after the latest round of budgetary brinkmanship between U.S. Democrats and Republicans caused Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to predict thousands of possible job losses at U.S. customs. Read more here.
 

(actionplan.gc.ca)

The Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) was created to promote economic growth and job creation through increased regulatory alignment and coordination between our two countries.

The RCC progress report was released on December 14, 2012. It outlines progress that has been made on advancing overall regulatory cooperation with the United States, and also on individual Joint Action Plan items.

The work we are doing with the United States is wide-ranging, and includes pilot projects, scientific and technical collaborations, harmonized testing procedures, joint standard development, and common approaches to compliance and enforcement.

Some specific regulatory issues can be addressed in the short term and systemic solutions are being considered on how best to achieve alignment in the future. Meaningful change requires time and sustained effort. The RCC signals a new direction for an enhanced regulatory relationship between Canada and the United States has been initiated.

Read or download the Progress Report to Leaders.
 

First annual progress reports issued on the Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation Council Action Plans

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Barack Obama, President of the United States, today welcomed the release of the first annual Beyond the Border Action Plan Implementation Report and the Canada-United States Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) Joint Action Plan Progress Report, which demonstrate progress made by Canada and the United States on perimeter security and economic competitiveness.

“Today’s reports demonstrate real and substantive progress on improving the management of our shared border and improving regulatory cooperation, both of which will improve the flow of people and goods between our countries,” said the Prime Minister. “The Beyond the Border and the Regulatory Cooperation Council Action Plans are laying the foundation for more jobs and growth in Canada and the United States by making it easier for firms in both countries to do business.”

The Beyond the Border and RCC Action Plans, announced by both leaders on December 7, 2011, set out ambitious milestones designed to advance economic opportunity, improve regulatory cooperation and enhance security between our two countries. Since then, significant progress has been made, including modernizing our joint border management, the development of the first joint Border Infrastructure Investment Plan, the release of a joint Cybersecurity Action Plan, improvements to the NEXUS trusted traveller program, mutual recognition of our air cargo security programs, and the development of joint standards and greater alignment of regulatory systems.

As the action plans continue to be implemented, the Government of Canada will keep Canadians informed of progress, including through the issuing of progress reports.

Both reports are available here.
 

(Jim Bronskill — The Canadian Press)

Legal snags have delayed – but not halted – plans by Canada and the United States to deepen co-operation on cross-border law enforcement.

In a one-year progress report on the highly touted binational perimeter security deal, the two countries said Friday they’ve made significant progress but realize there’s still much work to do.

The deal – being phased in over several years – aims to smooth the passage of goods and people across the 49th parallel while bolstering defences along the continental border.

One outstanding project is the next generation of cross-border law enforcement, which will see police and security officials work even more closely than they do now.

It would build on joint border-policing efforts by creating integrated teams in areas such as intelligence and criminal investigations.

Two pilot projects were supposed to be up and running by last summer, but the progress report says officials are still evaluating the “operational and legal requirements” involved. Read more here.

Related: FCPSA press release.
 

(Konrad Yakabuski — Globe and Mail)

Almost two years after Barack Obama and Stephen Harper formally launched the Canada-U.S. Beyond the Border initiative, our two countries’ effort to adopt a common approach to security and business regulations has produced few tangible results.

Proponents of the so-called BTB project are hoping all that will change with the release, as early as this week, of a progress report on a series of pilot projects aimed at harmonizing regulatory processes under the initiative launched by the two leaders at a February, 2011 White House summit.

“You need to have some success … so that all the parties involved maintain faith in the process,” Michael Fitzpatrick, General Electric’s senior counsel for government and regulatory affairs, told a Wednesday conference at the Wilson Center’s Canada Institute. Read more here.
 

(Public Safety Canada)

Patricia Davidson, Member of Parliament for Sarnia-Lambton, on behalf of Canada’s Public Safety Minister, the Honourable Vic Toews, today announced that Canada is delivering on a key Beyond the Border Action Plan (Action Plan) commitment to reduce border delays for trusted traders.

Through the Action Plan, Canada and the U.S. are working to enhance the benefits of their trusted trader programs that help members move goods efficiently and securely across the border. As a result, Canada launched a Free and Secure Trade (FAST) expansion pilot at the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia, Ontario to allow Partners in Protection (PIP) and Customs Self Assessment (CSA) trusted traders to use the FAST lanes/booths without having to be members of both programs, which is the current requirement. This six-month pilot will align Canada’s eligibility requirements with those of the U.S. If successful, changes may be permanently implemented at all three ports where FAST is currently available.
Read more »

(Don Cayo — Vancouver Sun)

The U.S. is Canada’s biggest trade partner and vice versa, but this doesn’t mean the relationship is seen as equally important by people on opposite sides of the border.

The ratio is slowly changing, thanks in part to the post-recession sluggishness in the U.S. economy that’s forcing Canadians to look further afield. But for industries in most parts of this country, the U.S. market has traditionally accounted for all but a tiny fraction of export sales. Even in B.C., the least U.S.-dependent province thanks to our proximity and strengthening ties to Asia, we sell more to the Americans than to our next five top trading partners combined.

Meanwhile, Canadians buy not quite 20 per cent of what U.S. companies export.

What this imbalance means, says Chris Sands, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a professor of U.S.-Canada relations at Western Washington University, is that Canadians regard border integration as a top priority, while Americans see it merely as one of many things on their to-do list. Read more here.
 

(Kim Mackrael — Globe and Mail)

Canadians are losing their enthusiasm for close co-operation with the United States on border security, a new opinion poll suggests.

Last year, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama announced sweeping plans to integrate security and ease cross-border trade. The two countries are working to standardize regulations that govern everything from food safety to pharmaceuticals and move security checks away from the border and toward ports and factories.

It’s part of an ambitious effort observers say could take years to realize and will require ongoing, high-level support from officials in both countries.

But as governments move to increase co-operation at the border, public support for the strategy appears to have declined in both Canada and the U.S., according to the latest opinion polling by Nanos Research and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Read more here.
 

(CBSA)

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that, effective September 30, 2012, both agencies will begin the Phase I pilot of the Entry/Exit initiative as outlined in the Beyond the Border Action Plan.

The Phase I pilot project will allow Canada and the U.S. to test the IT capacity to exchange and reconcile biographic information on the entry of travellers that are not Canadian citizens or U.S. citizens, such that a record of entry into one country could be considered as a record of exit from the other.

Under the pilot project, the CBSA and DHS will exchange data currently collected on third-country nationals (those who are neither citizens of Canada nor of the United States), permanent residents of Canada and lawful permanent residents of the United States at the following four ports of entry:

• Pacific Highway, Surrey, British Columbia / Pacific Highway, Blaine, Washington;
• Douglas (Peace Arch), Surrey, British Columbia / Peace Arch, Blaine, Washington;
• Queenston-Lewiston Bridge, Niagara-on-the Lake, Ontario / Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, Lewiston, New York; and
• Niagara Falls Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls, Ontario / Rainbow Bridge, Niagara Falls, New York.

Read more »

(Bill Graveland –The Canadian Press)

Canada’s ambassador to the U.S. isn’t expecting any major upheaval in international relations once the American presidential election results are known in November.

Gary Doer and his U.S. counterpart David Jacobson discussed the state of Canada-U.S. relations Thursday evening at the Global Business Forum in Banff. The two men said they don’t expect any chill in the longtime relationship between the two countries whether President Barack Obama is reelected or if he is unseated by Republican Mitt Romney.

“It’s going to be good no matter who the next guy is,” said Jacobson. “To me the relationship is strong because when we have differences we talk about them. We don’t get into fights, we don’t fuss.” Read more here.
 

(Embassy – Carl Meyer)

The Harper government’s plan to permit United States law enforcement agents to pursue suspects across the land border and onto Canadian soil is “on hold” while legal issues are resolved, the government says.

The program, part of the 2011 perimeter plan between Canada and the United States that is reshaping the two nations’ cross-border trade, security, and policing, was supposed to be tested through two pilot projects by the summer of 2012.

The land-based program could give the green light to U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration agents to cross the border and pursue suspects into Canada, the RCMP has told Embassy. Read more here.
 

(Public Safety Canada)

Canada’s Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews, and the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, met in Montreal, Quebec yesterday to discuss border security and cross-border trade.

Yesterday’s meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the work being done to advance the joint Beyond the Border Action Plan: A Shared Vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, which was announced by Canada’s Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, and the President of the United States, Barack Obama, on December 7th, 2011.

There has been substantial progress on numerous border initiatives outlined in the Beyond the Border Action Plan. For example, the three-year residency requirement for the NEXUS program was amended and new technology to reduce border wait times was launched.

“We are working closely and effectively with our U.S. partners to strengthen trade ties and ensure that our shared border remains open to legitimate businesses and travellers,” said Minister Toews. “The collaboration between Canada and the U.S. continues to strengthen the security and economy of both our nations.”

“Our countries have made significant progress in implementing the initiatives of the Beyond the Border Action Plan,” said Secretary Napolitano. “We will continue to work together to move the plan forward-further enhancing the economic and national security of both of our nations.”

Minister Toews and Secretary Napolitano also discussed ongoing work to improve bilateral information sharing for national security purposes while respecting each country’s constitutional and legal frameworks – a commitment made in the Beyond the Border Action Plan.

During their meeting, they reflected on the tragic events of September 11, 2001, and the importance of ongoing bilateral cooperation to combat common threats against Canada and the U.S.
 

(Barbara Yaffe – Vancouver Sun)

Eleven years after the 9/11 debacle, the Canada-U.S. border linking the world’s two most friendly countries remains a debilitating choke point.

Last weekend, driving down to Seattle, early-morning lineups at the Peace Arch customs crossing appeared as long as ever with waits of about 50 minutes to gain access to the land of the free and home of the brave.

This, despite herculean efforts in the past decade expended on a flotilla of trusted traveller programs, as well as significant upgrades to B.C.-Washington border crossings in advance of Vancouver’s 2010 Olympics.

“The current system of border thickening,” decrees a just-released study on the bogged-down border, “constitutes a serious threat to long-term economic growth in Canada.” Read more: here.
 

(Tobi Cohen – Postmedia News)

Tough times lie ahead for the Canada Border Service Agency, according to a department executive who warned staff that federal budget cuts and the Canada-United States perimeter security deal would make the coming year feel like “climbing Mount Everest.”

In a pep talk to human resources branch managers March 1, less than a month before the federal budget was tabled, CBSA vice-president Camille Therriault-Power urged staff to “embrace change rather than resist it.

“As managers, you are agents of change. I need you to take the ‘we can’t do that’ and the ‘that won’t work’ and turn them into ‘we can do that’ and ‘we could do this instead which would lead to the same result,’” she said in briefing notes obtained by Postmedia News through access to information legislation. Read more here.
 

(Toronto Star)

The United States will be allowed to share information about Canadians with other countries under a sweeping new border deal.

A newly released binational privacy charter says that in most cases it won’t have to tell Canada about its plan to pass along the information.

Information-sharing about security cases has sometimes been a sore point between the two countries since the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Canada and the U.S. jointly released the 12-point statement of privacy principles late Thursday, covering areas including data quality, information security, effective oversight, and redress for people whose privacy is infringed.

The principles help flesh out a perimeter security deal struck by the two countries last year. Read more here.
 

(Public Safety Canada)

As part of their commitment under the Beyond the Border Action Plan for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, Canada and the United States announce the establishment of Binational Port Operations Committees at eight Canadian airports that provide a U.S. preclearance service. This will facilitate legitimate cross-border trade and travel and promote collaboration on overall port management, and also facilitate the existing 20 committees established at land border ports.

In addition, each Binational Port Operations Committee has developed an action plan that includes specific initiatives to improve border management and efficiency. Each action plan looks at enhancing both countries’ ability to jointly address operational issues that impact both sides of the border, and facilitate communications during events.

“The establishment of these committees is an essential step to improving overall border management and efficiency,” said Public Safety Minister, Vic Toews. “The committees will play an important role in ensuring the safety and security of our borders and facilitate the free flow of persons and goods across the border by creating opportunities for greater interoperability, developing practical tools and sharing best practices.” Read more here.
 

(Public Safety Canada)

Today, the Honourable Vic Toews, Canada’s Minister of Public Safety, announced the release of the Considerations for United States – Canada Border Traffic Disruption Management guide. The guide, which was developed jointly by Public Safety Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, fulfils one of the first commitments under the Canada-U.S. Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competiveness.

“The Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness sets ambitious, achievable goals that will advance economic opportunity and lead to a more efficient border. Implementation of this guide will help maintain economic stability and ensure that priority traffic moves freely towards and away from the secure Canada – US border during times of crisis,” said Minister Toews. “This plan is the result of close collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders, including government officials from the local, state, and provincial/territorial level, to manage the flow of traffic near the border during a disruption.”

The guide outlines best practices and identifies critical issues to consider when developing or updating traffic management plans to ensure they are tailored to address regional requirements and individual border crossings. The guide provides specific actions and questions for stakeholders in the areas of:

- preparedness;
- communications and information management;
- resource management;
- command and management; and
- on-going management and maintenance.

As a next step, Public Safety Canada (PS) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials will engage with regional authorities to adapt the guide to specific points of entry and conduct cross-border regional exercises. PS and DHS will report annually on the percentage of priority border crossings that are covered by a regional plan and validated through an exercise.

For more information on the Considerations for United States – Canada Border Traffic Disruption Management guide, please visit the website www.publicsafety.gc.ca.  For more information on the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness, please visit the website www.borderactionplan.gc.ca.

(Sneh Duggal — Embassy Magazine)

Cuts to the Canada Border Services Agency could impact the country’s Perimeter border plan with the United States or ruffle feathers in Washington, say union and opposition members—but the US Embassy says it has full confidence in Canada, and the Harper government denies frontline positions are being cut.

The Harper government is “negotiating with the Americans…to increase the level of security, and they are cutting these jobs. Where does it make any sense here?” said Jean-Pierre Fortin, president of the Customs and Immigration Union that represents CBSA staff.

“They’re trying to hide the fact that they are cutting the frontline officers. I think they don’t want to scare the Americans away from that reality,” Mr. Fortin said in an interview with Embassy. Read more here.
 

(Canadian Transportation & Logistics)

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) says it is “encouraged” by its discussions with stakeholders [last] week concerning the future of the Canada-US Beyond the Border Action Plan.

CTA participated in the Border Commercial Consultative Committee (BCCC) along with members of Canada’s trade community and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), as well as the Beyond the Border Action Plan Town Hall meeting in Niagara Falls, N.Y. where officials from both sides of the border were present alongside Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) Deputy Commissioner Winkowski and CBSA President Portelance.

Discussions centred on programs and initiatives contained in the Border Action Plan and next steps that will be taken as the Plan is executed. As a key player in discussions on any border-related changes, CTA remains closely involved on several programs contained in the plan and continues to work with officials from various government departments on partnership opportunities. Read more here.