WASHINGTON: Canadians travelling to the United States will eventually be able to get pre-clearance from US customs agents before they cross the border, helping to ease lines at busy border crossings.
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the new agreement.
The agreement will provide a legal framework allowing new pre-clearance options for land, rail, marine and air travellers.
Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney and US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson announced a new agreement at a press conference in Washington.
“This historic new agreement builds on decades of successful preclearance operations in Canadian airports. It will enhance the security at our border and create jobs and growth in Canada by improving the flow of legitimate goods and people between our two countries,” said.
When it enters into force, the new agreement will replace the existing air transport agreement, signed in 2001. The single agreement would ensure a “consistent approach to all preclearance activities, regardless of the mode of transportation, making it easier to implement and govern preclearance activities in both countries,” according the press release from Blaney’s office.
A pre-clearance customs arrangement already exists for air travel at eight Canadian airports – Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg – allowing pre-cleared travellers to skip customs lines in U.S. airports when they arrive.
Canada and the U.S. have been negotiating an agreement for years now. It will ease wait times and lines at major border crossings. The arrangement is part of the 2011 Beyond the Border deal reached between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama.
Officials missed their original late-2012 deadline for an agreement meant to allow customs officials inside each other’s countries.
