Conference weighs impact of new border rules

The commute to work for Linda Matthews is not a matter of heavy or stalled traffic or changing lanes, but rather the need to cross borders. Matthews, who is corporate logistics manager for Cooke Aquaculture based in St. George, leaves her home on Campobello and crosses at the U.S. Customs Station in Lubec. By the time she arrives at work, she has also passed through Canadian Customs at St. Stephen. On the way home, she will stop at U.S. Customs in Calais and will check in at Canadian Customs on Campobello. She has been doing this for the past four years four or five times a week. Matthews was one of several speakers at the two-day Changing Borders conference held November 13 in St. Andrews and November 14 at the Washington Community College in Calais. Matthews knows well the impact of new U.S.-Canada border requirements. She started working on Campobello for Cooke Aquaculture, and when the plant moved to St. George she started the long commute.

Matthews must also deal with the logistics of shipping salmon across the border for same-day delivery to Boston. Of the six truckloads of salmon leaving the plant daily, three truckloads will be crossing the border for the trip to Boston. Delays at the border can cause difficulties for the company.

The goal of the conference was to discuss new border policies that are permanently altering aspects of the area's economic and social fabric that have been in place for generations. Maine and New Brunswick communities long bound together by historical and family ties are now facing challenges in crossing borders that in the past nearly blended together.

New requirements for border crossing

Kathleen Kraninger, director of the screening coordination office, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), described the situation as "the latest watershed of change" since 9/11. Currently Canadian and U.S. citizens are exempt from any document requirements at land border crossings. DHS intends to end the routine practice of accepting oral declarations alone at land and sea ports of entry. As of January 31, 2008, under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, DHS will require U.S. citizens to present either a valid passport or a government-issued photo ID such as a driver's license and proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate. A birth certificate will be required for U.S. and Canadian children age 15 and under.

NEXUS, a joint program with the Canada Border Services Agency, will allow pre-screened and approved travelers faster processing. NEXUS was established in 2002 as part of the Shared Border Accord, a partnership between the U.S. and Canada. NEXUS membership also fulfills the travel document requirements of the WHTI.

A new alternative form of identification called an enhanced driver's license would be a driver's license with bar codes and other security features on the back of the card. Washington state will begin the production of the first enhanced driver's license in January. Vermont and New York state have also agreed to issue enhanced driver's licenses. Kraninger says Canada has also expressed interest in creating its own version of the driver's license.

E-Manifest is an electronic manifest program that allows highway and rail cargo to move faster and more efficiently through the supply chain at Canadian land borders. Effective as of October 16, 2007, transport of cargo valued at more than $2,000 must be registered on the e-Manifest system.

Kraninger explained that DHS plans to expand the use of radio frequency identification at land border crossings. The system requires cars to pull up to a scanning machine before reaching the customs officer. The machine provides the necessary information to the officer by the time the car has reached the officer. Eventually scanning machines will be installed at 39 customs stations, and the new Calais bridge will be equipped with the scanning machine. The third bridge across the St. Croix River will have six primary lanes including three lanes for trucks and a fast lane.

Keith Flemming of U.S. Customs and Border Protection said good things will happen. Calais can work out ways to move traffic downtown through the other two bridges.

Wait time and the cost of passports and other identification documents were complaints expressed during the conference by both citizens and representatives of businesses. Flemming and other speakers noted that protecting the U.S. borders against terrorism while facilitating legitimate trade and travel is a big challenge.

The two-day conference, which attracted about 150 participants, was sponsored by the Sunrise County Economic Council, the St. Croix International Waterway Commission and Enterprise Charlotte to look at the new border requirements and their implications for business, tourism and community life in southwestern New Brunswick and Downeast Maine.