New Canada-U.S. Border Security Programs

Soon after the events of September 11, 2001, the United States began instituting tighter security regulations at all its ports of entry. This security campaign has ultimately led to some drastic programs within its borders. For example, the recent Immigration and Naturalization Services law requires all men born in any of 14 predominantly-Muslim countries who are resident in the U.S. to register again so that updated profiles of them can be obtained. This racist program has been denounced by hundreds of thousands of Americans and demonstrations at INS offices across the U.S. continue to take place daily.

The U.S. also began demanding tighter border regulations at all Canada-U.S. crossings. It initiated a propaganda campaign which alleged that terrorists were entering the U.S. through poorly-regulated Canadian border points. For its part, the Canadian government was very responsive to the U.S. requests; almost immediately, John Manley, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared that Canada would be more than willing to do its part to ensure the security of the United States. A Smart Border Declaration, outlining 30 steps to be taken, was signed in December, 2001.

The resulting huge delays in border crossing in the aftermath of September 11 were a problem to trade between the two countries, as 85% of Canada's exports go to the U.S. and 20% of the latter's come north. Many of the Smart Border policies that have been instituted recently are aimed directly at ensuring the continued ease of transport of goods across the border.

However, the main protocol being used in many of the programs is to create different classes of people crossing the border. Those, who register in advance and provide detailed information about themselves - including their prior jobs and residences - will be allowed across with no difficulty; those who are not so registered will be subject to intense scrutiny. The logic will be that if you are not a terrorist, you will clear your name and be registered; if you are not registered, then you must have something to hide.

In announcing some of the latest joint border measures in Toronto in October, the U.S. Commissioner of Customs, Robert Bonner, defined a smarter border as one which has added security without having all the security done at the actual, physical border itself. Joint programs already adopted (out of the 30 in the works) include, among others:

- CSI (Container Security Initiative): This program has seen Canadian inspectors stationed at U.S. seaports in Newark and Seattle, and American inspectors stationed at Halifax, Montreal and Vancouver. It has also been instituted in seven European and Asian countries, representing 11 of the top 20 ports in terms of cargo shipments to the U.S. CSI requires the electronic transmission of "accurate and complete" manifest information 24 hours in advance of a container's leaving its port of departure, so that the country of destination (primarily the U.S.) can undertake the "targeting necessary to separate the high-risk from the low-risk containers" (Commissioner Bonner's words) in advance.

- FAST (Free and Secure Trade): Announced by President Bush and Prime Minister Chretien in September, 2002 in Detroit, this program is designed to expedite processing at the border for companies that provide enhanced security in their supply chain, from the loading docks to the border. FAST is a "harmonized" processing system, jointly administered by the Canadian industry partnership program, PIP, and the U.S. Customs private sector partnership program, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT). On both sides of the border, importers, commercial carriers and truck drivers who meet the agreed-to security criteria, which includes finger-printing, are entitled to expedited clearance at any of the six major crossings with FAST lanes to date.

- NEXUS: This program does for passenger travel what CSI and FAST do for cargo. Frequent travellers are separated into two categories - no-risk for terrorism or smuggling (referred to as "trusted people") with all other travellers falling into a high-risk category. All individuals applying to be accepted into NEXUS must provide detailed personal information, be screened against crime and terrorist indices in both countries, and be interviewed by both Canadian and U.S. officials. Only those judged to pose no risk are accepted, and are issued a SMART card, which entitles them to bypass both Customs and Immigration checks at the border. The latest border crossings to have implemented NEXUS are Windsor/Detroit and Buffalo/Fort Erie.