The Foreign Service Journal, October 2007

Long wait times for trucks seeking to enter the United States may seem like a minor inconvenience, similar to what a typical air traveler might encounter these days. Yet in an economy that has become increasingly dependent on “just-in-time” delivery of goods and services, extended delays mean increased costs for businesses, which trans- lates into increased prices for consumers. For ports of entry like Nogales, where up to four billion pounds of fresh produce enter the U.S. each year, long waits at CBP checkpoints mean spoiled loads and lost revenue. While border delays most directly affect southern bor- der cities such as El Paso or Nogales, companies and con- sumers throughout the United States feel the effects. Three of the top six U.S. states in terms of volume of sur- face trade with Mexico are Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. Thus, reducing the amount of time trucks spend in those lines will result in fresher produce and cheaper products for all Americans. Business leaders often stress the need for increased U.S. and Mexican infrastructure at land ports of entry into the United States — in terms of more inspection lanes and booths, and additional customs inspectors. CBP facil- ities were built decades ago, before NAFTA fostered the growth of binational trade, including Mexico-based maquiladoras (factories) and other industries such as car manufacturers, to produce goods for the American mar- ket, creating an enormous upsurge in the number of trucks using the POEs. Not all border-crossing problems can be blamed on infrastructure, however. Some businesses have been slow to alter their routines to take advantage of extended hours at ports of entry or Department of Homeland Security programs, such as Fast and Secure Trade and the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, that give certified companies faster access to POE inspection facil- ities. In addition, the lack of road infrastructure to permit dedicated FAST lanes on the Mexican side reduces the benefits of that program. Personnel shortages and lack of coordination between banks (for customs payments), gov- ernment agencies and businesses along the border also compound the problem. Complicating any attempt to improve the flow of peo- ple and goods across the border is the sheer number of stakeholders involved. Keeping a single American POE operational involves an alphabet soup of government offi- cials, often including: the CBP and other DHS entities, the Centers for Disease Control, the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the applicable state department of transportation, just to name a few. Nor does this include the many financial establishments, including customs brokers and banks, involved in moving commodities across the border Creative Solutions Individual POEs have used community support and innovative methods to address these issues. One example of a community group that has made a difference is the Greater Nogales-Santa Cruz County Port Authority in Nogales. This coalition encompasses city and county rep- resentatives, the local chamber of commerce and tourism council, as well as local CBP officials, the Arizona Department of Transportation, local Mexican government representatives and the U.S. consulate in Nogales, Sonora. These organizations recently worked together to lobby Congress and key agencies in Washington to win funding for the reconfiguration of a key Nogales POE. The El Paso-Ciudad Juarez community has also bene- fited from the efforts of grassroots organizations working together with official, nongovernmental and private-sec- tor stakeholders. The West Texas Advisory Group, form- ed in 2006 by the director of the El Paso CBP field office, has been an effective forum for addressing issues of mutu- al concern and planning binational strategies to mitigate problems in border communities. For instance, the group succeeded in brokering a compromise between the CBP and local businesses over the planned renovation of the busy Paso del Norte Bridge. By working together, the group ensured that the much-needed renovation would not harm El Paso businesses that depend on shoppers from across the border. Where resources for optimum border-crossing stream- lining are realistically limited, such local community efforts have helped to clear up the worst bottlenecks. F O C U S 34 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / O C T O B E R 2 0 0 7 Snapshot of a Port of Entry The four ports of entry in Nogales processed 16.6 million legal travelers during Fiscal Year 2006. To put this statistic in perspective, the John F. Kennedy and Los Angeles International Airports handle a combined 18 million travelers per year, without the additional worry of inspecting passenger and commercial vehicles. And the traffic Nogales sees pales in comparison to larger POEs such as Laredo and Otay Mesa.