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Home > News & Policies > December 2001

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For Immediate Release
Office of Homeland Security
December 12, 2001

Action Plan for Creating a Secure and Smart Border
U.S. and Canada
An Efficient, Secure and Smart Border

      Specifics of Secure and Smart Border Action Plan

Public security and economic security are mutually reinforcing.  By working together to develop a zone of confidence against terrorist activity, the United States and Canada create a unique opportunity to build a smart border for the 21st century, a border that allows the secure, free flow of people and goods, a border that reflects the largest trading relationship in the world.

Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge led a U.S. delegation that included representatives from the departments of Justice, Transportation, Defense, State, and Treasury; and the offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the National Security Council, Customs, and the U.S. Coast Guard.

ACTION PLAN FOR CREATING A SECURE AND SMART BORDER

Secure Flow of People
-    Resume and evaluate the NEXUS (Easy-pass) pilot project for two-way movement of pre-approved travelers at Sarnia-Port Huron.
-    Share Advance Passenger Information on flights between Canada and the United States, and increase the number of Canadian and U.S. immigration officers at overseas airports.
-    Promote additional systems to identify travelers who pose security risks while maintaining the current flow of law-abiding people between the countries.

Secure Flow of Goods
-    Devise and implement innovative, smart technologies, including common cargo screening, harmonized commercial processes at the border, and compatible security standards to identify dangerous cargo while expediting the flow of low-risk goods.  This will include secure procedures to clear goods on the factory floor, at rail yards, and at marine ports.

Secure Infrastructure
-    Relieve congestion at key crossing points by investing reciprocally in border infrastructure and identifying technological solutions that will help to speed movement across the border.  Nearly 70% of traffic and over 80% of the value of goods flowing between the two countries passes through just six border crossings

Coordination and Information Sharing in the Enforcement of these Objectives
-    Strengthen coordination between law enforcement agencies for addressing common threats.

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