Since 2001, the trade-off between increased border security and border crossing efficiency has been more apparent than ever. The Canadian Border Action Plan Committee estimates that more than $1.6 billion of goods and services cross the Canada-US border each day with billions of dollars diverted to customs compliance per year.
Under the Canada Border Services Agency Act, the agency is responsible for providing integrated border services that support national security and facilitate the free flow of persons and goods through a number of means, including implementing agreements between the federal government and foreign states or public bodies. One such agreement between Canada and the US, the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program, is of particular concern to the trucking industry in Canada. Highway carriers require approval under the Canadian Partner in Protection (PIP) and the US Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program in order to be eligible for FAST.
The PIP program was established in 1995 as a customs regulations awareness program, but established security standards, mandatory site validations, and cancellation and suspension procedures in 2008. The PIP standards are similar to the C-TPAT standards – which has enabled a mutual recognition arrangement between Canada and the US. Although this agreement is in place, carriers are still required to obtain approval through separate application processes for each program.
The FAST program is intended to enhance the efficiency of North American cross-border supply chains by granting participants access to dedicated lanes, reduced inspections, and priority inspection processing. In this article, we will leave the efficiency problems of the program for another day and focus on an employment law aspect.
