Customs derails borderless trade

THE ISSUES surrounding "borderless" trade in Canada and the US have strong parallels with those in southern Africa. That much was clear in the presentation of Rob Ritchie, CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway, in his presentation at the IAPH conference. One would assume that two modern countries such as the US and Canada might have worked out sophisticated methods of facilitating cross-border traffic. Not so, said Ritchie, who cited examples in Montreal of initiatives by the ports and shipping lines that are derailed by overly complex and sometimes competing requirements of both US and Canadian customs officials. "North American border competition costs the transport industry about US$8 million a minute," he said.