WASHINGTON, D.C. – A pilot project will be launched next year in Buffalo, N.Y. to electronically process truck shipments heading across the Canada-U.S. border.

The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration agreed on Oct. 18 to participate in the International Trade Data System (ITDS), joining with U.S. Customs, the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Food and Drug Administration in the process.

In the next five to six years, ITDS is expected to become the single system used for all transborder cargo movements, essentially offering an electronic snapshot of whether the truck, cargo and its driver are legally allowed to cross the border.

Essentially it interfaces with other government agency systems to pre-clear cargo before it arrives. The trade community will submit a single set of data for its international trade transactions, and that information will be used to process the loads. The U.S. Customs Service will coordinate the creation of the required computer system, which will share information with Customs’ national architecture.

“This data system will help improve truck safety and traffic flow, thus helping to safeguard the environment and lower the cost of inventories in transit,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney E. Slater said.

Between 1970 and 1997, U.S. imports and exports grew 350 percent faster than its Gross Domestic Product in 1992 dollars – increasing international trade from 11 percent of GDP in 1970 to 25 percent in 1997. n