< back to the September 1997 Conference

Jerry Nagel, CAN/AM BTA Executive Board Member - Opened Conference
Welcomed attendees to the conference / and the topics to be discussed / Reiterated Can/Am BTA's broad perspective / the national and international attention it receives and its ability to transcend individual organizations and provide a unified focus. Advised that our web page is operational CANAM BTA.ORG and resident on the RRTRADE.ORG web site server.

TRANSPORTATION
Harry Caldwell, Chief Highway Needs and Investment USDOT FHWA
Provided handouts of the House, Senate and Administration Transportation program summaries including funding levels proposed for each. Described the various approaches; Step 21, Stars 2000 and ISTEA WORKS. Legislation for a new program will be passed (probably will be a compromise). The question is when.

The donor/donee issue pits regions and states against one another and raises the spector of equity versus efficiency. The program structure of rigid/specific vs. flexible is yet to be determined.
*Discussed Trade Corridor and Border Gateway pilot program legislation as all proposed legislation contain it at differing funding levels. Bi-national and multi-jurisdictional joint efforts are included and encouraged. A national framework is needed with the ability to enable regions to decide outcomes with grass roots involvement of private sector carriers, shippers, users and operators.

Emile Di Sanza, Acting Director Motor Carrier Policy TRANSPORT CANADA
*Provided overview of the practical approach and fundamental changes Transport Canada has gone through and the extraordinary pace of change. Employment decreases from 18,000 to 5,000. Described and discussed: framework of policy development and enforcement of regulations and standards; / North America harmonizing of regulations and the impact of FTA and NAFTA; / intermodal and integration with the importance of rail and trucks each in their own right; / the importance of facilitating trade and the issues of taxation; / weights and dimensions; / road costs / signage systems; / truck fitness and reliability; / traffic management technology / and information system development.
* Reiterated key importance of regional perspectives / needs / conditions / and markets. Must utilize the strength of all available modes. / The bottom line is system efficiency / commercial transit time / reliability and ability to encourage and enable achievement of necessary results.

U.S. CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION SERVICES
Commissioner Doris Meissner, Immigration and Naturalization Service

Mission is to facilitate the safe, efficient movement of lawful traveler's and prevent unlawful activities. We are building a new border technology system on the Northern Border. U.S. and Canada have grown closer in cooperative operations and to counteract illegal activities.
Discussed status of auto permit pass/INS pass / hand biometrics (now operational at JFK, Newark, Toronto and Miami airports) / video telephones / remote video technology.
The Feb. 1995 Accord commits both the U.S. and Canada to share processing facilities and technology and jointly cooperate to achieve a secure, monitored and efficient border crossing process. The Northern Border needs a workable, thoughtful approach and will be enhanced by how well government and organizations work together.
Provided status on the Section 110 Illegal Immigration
Legislation:  INS is required to follow Congressional dictate which requires an arrival and departure tracking system for all aliens (including Canadian citizens) to be operational September 30, 1998. Although a pilot program at the Thousand Island Bridge was specified, no funding was provided and the pilot will not occur until funded. Resource and capability constraints dictate that Section 110 compliance will require an incremental approach with an entry/exit tracking system operational at airports by September 30, 1998. This is to be followed by a system at the Southern Border at a future date. Upon completion of that phase, a system at the Northern Border at a future date.
In closing Commissioner Meissner stated the important role of the Can/Am BTA for the U.S./Canada border.
EDITORIAL NOTE: As Executive Director of Can/Am BTA I have been actively involved in consideration of Section 109 and 110 language used in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) since passage. I participated in the working group to advise the Attorney General on implementation of Sections 109 and 110. I have been supplied with the background, which resulted in the omission of defining the term alien as intended to "NOT" affect Canadian citizens. I continue to work with elected officials to rectify the situation with appropriate technical amendments. / The literal translation of the current Section 110 wording if implemented would gridlock the border in both directions and decimate commerce while subjecting individuals crossing the border to massive delays including American citizens. I anticipate passage of technical amendments in the House and Senate to reinstate the current status of summary inspection of most Canadian citizens ezempting them from individual documentation when entering the U.S. the same way Canada treats U.S. citizens entering Canada. / Currently there is no exit stop when leaving either Canada or the U.S.

Acting Commissioner Sam Banks, U.S. Customs Service

* Cited Can/Am BTA's initiatives and success in raising the profile of the Northern Border.
*Discussed a number of new developments and positive progress: new facilities -replacing those that had become atrocious / the NATAP system /single data input for commercial transactions on a tri- lateral basis periodic versus transactional reporting / reduction of in-transit truck stops border-wide from 4 to 2 (eliminated 300,000 stops by trucks in the two way Michigan-Ontario-New York in-transit corridor) / creation of a Northern Border Customs Port Directors Council designed to achieve consistent treatment border-wide / all good news for the Northern Border.
* Congress has directed essentially all Customs personnel additions to the Southwest Border/Mexico. Customs personnel head count on the Northern Border, while not degraded, has remained flat while commercial entries into the U.S. have more than doubled increasing 116%. Staffing issues (Northern Border) short term are serious. Traffic congestion is and will occur until planned technology actually kicks in. Must work to avoid erosion of staff, introduce new and better ways to ease the squeeze and provide solutions through technology. / Advised that the Customs airfare user fee, which funds 77 positions for airline pre-clearance in Canada, is to sunset. If funding is lost, these positions and the function they perform are at risk.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Can/Am BTA has been interacting on the U.S. Customs
Northern Border staffing situation and has accepted the responsibility and cooperative support to undertake a planned initiative to obtain needed additional staff/resources until the Accord is fully operational so that the critical economic contributions of efficient U.S,/Canada border crossing are not negated by short term funding constraints or lack of priority ranking.
* Provided an impactive handout on Canadian Trade Issues / charting commercial compliance experience by country of origin of the 12 countries that make up 75o% of shipments into the U.S. / Average compliance rate is 82% with a target of 90% by 2000. / Canada originating shipments have a 75% compliance rate. / Major discrepancy caused by misclassification data errors by shippers and brokers, coupled with lesser instances of marking, quantity and miscellaneous discrepancy categories. This needs immediate attention. U.S. Customs and Revenue Canada are doing joint and informed compliance measurement / aggressive tracking / to achieve a 90+% compliance rate.   Stated Can/Am BTA can assist as shippers and brokers involved in shipments originating from Canada control their own destiny and the ability to achieve the necessary 90% compliance rate. The bottom line is that compliance is directly linked to: inspection activity; the Customs budget; and resource deployment. Achieving a 90% compliance rate will directly reduce merchandise shipment examinations. This results in availability to perform other needed duties as well as optimizing the process for shippers who have a record of compliance.

Senator Conrad Burns - Montana

*Provided meaningful insight and commentary on U.S./Canada relations, transportation legislation, technology and the key ingredients of common sense and logic.
*U.S./Canada relations: The crux is cooperation and attitude / talking with and listening to one another / being sensitive to one another / promote in common; displayed a comprehensive single travel/tourist book for Alberta/Montana as an example of a successful bi-national multi-jurisdictional result. / Endeavor to grow and prosper using appropriate forums for problem resolution / Wheat and lumber - let the producers work it out. / Government set policy with acceptable parameters to facilitate / enable and then get out of the way and let the entrepreneurs do it. / Blocking the ferries and burning the flag affects perceptions and damages relations.

*Transportation legislation: The reality of the West is space and area. / A national transportation network grid recognizing rural areas too is needed. / The Senate will find an acceptable compromise to continue ISTEA. / New technology will be a key component: / LPR / mag cards / encryption etc.
*Technology: Three technology area developments were cited as key; transistors for corresponding / silicon chips for communicating / jet engines for travelling. New technology direction and enhancements are developing at an extremely fast pace. / Specifically at the border, how to electronically secure it while making it user friendly. Senator Burns summed it up by relating what his father used to say, "in his lifetime man went from horseback to walking on the moon and he got to watch the last half on television."

THE CANADA/UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ACCORD ON
OUR SHARED BORDER
Chief Inspector Donna Barnes, Immigration and Naturalization Service
*The Accord is a consolidated approach to border management: The mutual goal is to improve the border crossing process while maintaining enforcement. / Stated planning for the CVPC at the Peace Bridge on the Canadian side continues while development of a plan for the Thousand Islands Bridge on the U.S. side has commenced. / Dedicated low risk commuter lanes at Blaine and Port Robinson with the need to have inspectors in each lane being reviewed.. / Expanding hours of operation of remote entry ports. / Voice verification being tested at Scobie. / Magnetic card access at 2 pilot site remote ports is being tested.
* Section 110 exit/entry control system - Literal translation of Congressional wording means no exceptions. Pilot at Thousand Islands Bridge will cost $1.5 million and no funds were provided.

NORTH AMERICAN TRADE AUTOMATION PROTOTYPE
Bob Ehinger, Director Int. Trade Data Systems U.S. Treasury Department
* Provided an overview and up to date assessment of the actual results at the six operating pilot sites. / NATAP is a new and now proven concept which made basic change to the system 1) standardizes the data, 2) uses EDIFACT protocol (standard representation), 3) transmits data for pre-arrival processing, 4) applies new technology to the above ie. transponders with inter-operability.
Evaluation and Preliminary Findings
* Winners: Absolute success with 25 companies all with enough volume to judge. Sony to save $ millions with half the investment in standardizing the data. / Use of Internet with encryption has proven timely, safe and accurate. Use of transponders. / One step processing. / Resulted in consolidation and integration of operations. / Toll collection-using transponders. / Results in a non-stop legal commercial crossing process.
*Losers:  Choice to run parallel (duplication) costly and does not work. / Transponder programming availability. / Encryption package and license costly. / Mexico does not share business communications as U.S. and Canada does. /
* Summary:  Evaluation will be completed Nov. 15, 1997. Expect to then continue an additional 6 months eliminating parallel duplication. Expects this will encourage additional participants. Upon completion of that phase, the pilot locations can remain operational if desired.

BORDER INITIATIVES AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION
Senator Spencer Abraham, Michigan

* Reviewed the Section 110 provisions as now being literally translated to include Canadian citizens stating that a 2 minute increase in the inspection process/addition of an exit process in a 1 hour traffic period on the Ambassador Bridge would cause a 17 hour congestion delay. He does not support inclusion of Canadian citizens or any approach, which causes traffic back-ups and delays. 1996 legislation will be technically amended or not supported to apply at land borders. The entry/exit control system was proposed for the Visa Waiver Program and should be developed at airports.
* Discussed trade: Fast Track is feasible but must be balanced, properly adjusted and fair to all sides if and when enacted. / Favors strengthening Canada/U.S. relations and looks to continue to work closely with the Can/Am BTA.
EDITORIAL NOTE: On Monday Sept. 15, Senator Abraham (MI) entered into the Congressional Record Senate Section when introducing legislation that would reauthorize the current Visa Waiver Pilot Program that, QUOTE "the automated entry-exit control system mandated by the Illegal Immigration Reform Law is operational at all ports of entry excluding the land borders. I note that there may be some question to whether last year's law intended to have the automated entry-exit system apply to the land borders, and I will be working separately to clarify that Congress intended the provision to apply only to entry and exit at ports of entry excluding the land borders." (This relates to clarifying Section 109 which would then exclude land borders from section 110).

Jim Phillips, Executive Director, Can/Am BTA
*Discussed three key initiatives the Can/Am BTA has undertaken in conjunction with its work on the Accord and with U.S. Customs:
1) Increase U.S. Custom's staffing/resources on the Northern Border for the period until the Accord is fully implemented and new technologies operational.

2) The implementation of a joint low risk traveler technology enforced system in both directions to result in dedicated primary lanes controlled without individual manning.
3) The development and implementation of Joint Border Processing Zones, essentially the perimeter of each crossing's process area to allow simultaneous enforcement of both countries laws by representatives of both countries agencies.
* Provided the background and developments related to IRRIRA Section 110 commencing with his appointment to the Working Group in early 1997 required by the legislation to advise the Attorney General on the implementation of Sections 109 and 110. Reviewed Can/Am BTA's extensive involvement and efforts with both U.S. and Canadian Government officials and U.S. elected officials and staff to alert, warn and initiate appropriate technical amendments to eliminate the unintended effect on Canadian citizens and prevent the gridlock and chaos that will result across the entire U.S./Canada border if the current literal language in Section 110 is implemented on Sept. 30, 1998.
*Advised that upon learning last Thursday 9/11, that the House committee had formulated technical amendments to IIRIRA which did not address Section 110 resulting in no exemption for Canadian citizens, urged and supported Congressman LaFalce (NY) submitting a Section 110 technical amendment. Congressman LaFalce and his key staff worked the weekend to write the appropriate technical amendment exempting Canadian citizens and at 10 a.m. today (9/16) it was officially submitted as HR 2481. Can/Am BTA members, whose Congressmen serve on the House committee, contacted their representatives by afternoon to support the LaFalce amendment when the mark up of the hill occurs. This is an instance where Can/Am BTA and especially Congressman LaFalce took the initiative and responsibility to act which made the difference. Congressman LaFalce chairs the Northern Border Caucus in the House formed in 1994 at the request of the Can/Am BTA.
* Pleased that Senator Abraham (MI) reiterated his long standing commitment to insure that the intent of Congress is to not impose new requirements on Canadian citizens and this would be reflected in the Senate version of IRRIRA.
EDITORIAL NOTE:
Subsequent to the Can/Am BTA conference Senator Murray (WA) introduced a Section 110 technical amendment in the Senate S.1205 exempting Canadian citizens with exactly the same wording as the LaFalce bill in the House. Senator Dorgan (ND) on September 24, also introduced a Section 110 technical amendment in the Senate S.1212 as a companion bill to the LaFalce HR 2481 bill with exactly the same wording so that the bills could be linked for passage. If this law is amended to exempt Canadian citizens, we have proposed an idea to officials to track the remaining foreign nationals required to be documented when leaving the U.S. via the U.S./Canada and border to achieve that objective without having to set up facilities or staff on the exit lanes from the U.S. / Our proposal has been made assuming the exemption of U.S. and most Canadian citizens, should INS decide that they had to stop every vehicle exiting the U.S. anyway to insure that no foreign national was aboard the vehicle even if it had U.S. or Canadian license plates. That approach would gridlock the border as well and require facilities, technology and human resources to be placed on the exit lanes all of which are not currently available or possible under present budget constraints.

Doug Waddell, Deputy Head of Mission Canadian Embassy to the U.S.

NOTE: The Can/Am BTA is honored that the Canadian Government chose our forum to initiate its high profile well justified concern with IRRIRA Section 110 literal language translation which does not specify the intended exemption of most Canadian citizens.
*Commended the leadership of the Can/Am BTA for its early assessment and recognition of the consequences of the wording of the new legislation and its proactive initiatives to result in insuring that it does not apply to Canadian citizens who do not otherwise currently require documentation.
* Stated 4 specific areas that conflict with the tremendous growth in trade and the many positive initiatives and cooperative efforts that have resulted in meaningful improvements:
1) Section 110 of the IIRIRA fails to specify the exemption of Canadian citizens which will result in traffic line-ups that will extend for miles on both sides of the border impeding both Americans and Canadians in both directions and the subsequent chaos it will create due to the implementation of new exit control effective Sept. 30, 1998. He presented the background and diplomatic steps that occurred including the confirmation that Congress did not intend to impose new requirements on Canadian citizens. The language used needs to be amended. Can/Am BTA was asked to continue our close working relationship especially on this 110 initiative.

2) The IIRIRA legislation Section 343, contrary to NAFTA's reciprocal procedures to facilitate temporary entry of professionals, imposes a new requirement that health care professionals' qualifications and proficiency in English must be certified by a certification organization located in the State of Pennsylvania. U.S. Health Care employers state that this requirement is unnecessary as their standard recruitment practices already include specific verification of qualifications and proficiency in English of Canadian applicants.

3) Can/Am BTA input is needed to ensure that both government's budgets provide adequate funding for an efficient U.S./Canada border operation and to introduce and deploy new technology effectively. Too many scarce resources are dedicated to enforcement of regulations that are no longer necessary. Instead, drug and illegal immigration enforcement and trade facilitation should be the beneficiary of these resources. The U.S. and Canada are working toward joint inspection with the objective to eliminate the need to re-inspect each other's products. However there are legislative proposals to impose new inspections/labeling on meat, horticultural products and frozen produce. Are these really necessary? "Our objective should be tested once-accepted everywhere in Canada and the United States."
4) Questioned how governments should fund the cost of border services with concern about the numerous fees that are levied. Stated there is a need to compile an inventory of all fees to determine whether service provided justifies each. Fees have proliferated replacing general revenue for funding (the governments responsibility). A long-term vision is needed for improved services and targeted enforcement at the border.
At the invitation of the Embassy, numerous television, radio and print media representatives covered Mr. Waddell's remarks. A media press conference (scrum) was held immediately following by Mr. Waddell with Mr. Phillips at Mr. Waddell's invitation. This has resulted in subsequent TV appearances, radio and press interviews on Section 110 by the Can/Am BTA Executive Director.

Mickey Blashfield, Can/Am BTA Executive Board Member
Closing Remarks
*Summed up the conference as ACCESS to senior government officials, providing the opportunity to DIALOGUE and gain the INSIGHT of those officials resulting in MEANINGFUL ACTION.
*Thanked the speakers for their meaningful ccntent and candid dialogue. Thanked the attendees for their participation which resulted in a very successful conference.
NOTE:
The 1998 Ottawa Conference with Canadian Government officials will be held May 3-5, 1998 at the Delta Ottawa Suites Hotel Ottawa. Ontario Canada.
716-754-8824 for information.

JIM PHILLIPS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR