Minister of National Revenue Elinor Caplan and U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner recently announced the expansion of FAST and NEXUS.
Free And Secure Trade, or FAST, allows commercial shipments to clear customs faster at the border. This program, already in place at six of the largest land border crossings, will be expanding to six additional high-volume commercial crossings, including sites in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Québec by December of this year.
New FAST ports of entry are:
- Rock Island-Stanstead, Québec/Derby Line, VT
- St. Armand-de-Philipsburg, Québec/Highgate Springs, VT
- Lansdowne, Ontario/Alexandra Bay,
- Emerson, Manitoba/Pembina, ND
- North Portal, Saskatchewan/Portal, ND
- Coutts, Alberta/Sweetgrass, MT
This will bring the total number of sites where FAST is available to 12. There are plans to have all major commercial crossings FAST-capable by the end of 2004.
In addition, there will be five additional FAST driver enrollment centers across Canada, including sites in New Brunswick, Québec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, bringing to 10 the total number of enrollment centers.
New FAST commercial driver registration centers will be located in:
- Woodstock, New Brunswick/Houlton, ME
- St. Armand-de-Philipsburg, Québec/Highgate Springs, VT
- Emerson, Manitoba/Pembina, ND
- North Portal, Saskatchewan/Portal, ND
- Coutts, Alberta/Sweetgrass, MT
Also announced is an agreement to establish the first FAST/NEXUS joint enrollment center on the Canadian side of the border, at the Commercial Vehicle Processing Center in Fort Erie, Ontario. This center should be operational by July 2003.
FAST and NEXUS are items contained in the Canada- U.S. Smart Border Declaration and its companion 30-point Action Plan, signed by Deputy Prime Minister John Manley and Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge Dec. 12, 2001.
NEXUS is more targeted at cars. Under that program, commuters who are citizens or permanent residents of either country can obtain get an ID card that allows them to cross the border on certain bridges with less scrutiny from inspectors.
Both programs are built on the principle of risk management, where applicants must meet the requirements for admission to both countries and undergo security checks prior to approval for enrollment.
