The Airports Council International - North America issued the following news release:
Airports Council International-North American (ACI-NA) and the Canadian Airports Council (CAC) today welcomed the Beyond the Border Action Plan announced by U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper as a good step forward in bi-national relations between Canada and the U.S., and good for North American aviation.
"North America's airports will see tremendous benefit from this new commitment to our Canada-U.S. relationship," said ACI-NA President Greg Principato. "The border agencies of Canada and the U.S. have a great track record of working together. This accord reinforces this great work."
Among the welcome measures announced are the planned elimination of baggage security rescreening requirements for Canadian originating bags at U.S. airports by the Transportation Security Administration, expansion of U.S. pre-clearance for cargo from Canada, and the expansion of Nexus benefits to travelers. Also included was a commitment "to identify and develop solutions to operational impediments to the effectiveness of U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) pre-clearance operations at Canadian airports by June 2012." Improved staffing levels at CBP have been a priority for Canadian airports for several years.
"The U.S. is Canada's biggest trading partner and Canada's airports strive to make travel between Canada and the U.S. as easy and hassle free as possible for business and leisure travelers alike," said Canadian Airports Council Chairman Bill Restall. "In the historic press conference, U.S. President Barack Obama said he hopes the new accord will lead to more Canadians visiting the U.S. We also hope it will lead to more Americans visiting Canada, and increased cross border trade for the benefit of both countries. A key part of that is a considered allocation of staffing resources at both Canadian and U.S. border agencies."
The U.S. CBP provides customs and border services to travelers departing for the U.S. from eight Canadian airports that have U.S. pre-clearance facilities at which CBP agents process travelers prior to their departure from Canada. They perform this function in the U.S. for travelers from other Canadian airports, however in recent years CBP staffing levels at many North American airports have not kept pace with the healthy growth in air traffic between the two countries. In the first six months of 2011 alone, this traffic was up 4.5 percent.
ACI-NA and the CAC have been long-time proponents of initiatives that ease the facilitation of passengers and goods at the Canada-U.S. air border from CBP and the Canada Border Services Agency, including technology-based trusted traveler programs like Nexus and Global Entry.
"Canada and the U.S. enjoy an important longstanding relationship," said CAC President Daniel-Robert Gooch, "Our airports welcome initiatives that ultimately make the experience of travelling between Canada and the U.S. easier and more hassle free. We appreciate the Government of Canada's consultations with industry on these initiatives and that the interests of Canada's aviation sector have been considered."
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