CLEVELAND, Ohio — Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) chief David Bradley visited Ohio last week, where he stressed to members of the Canada-US Law Institute the importance of facilitating the smooth flow of goods across the border.

Bradley warned that the thickening of the US/Canada border imperils economic growth in the Great Lakes region.

“The Smart Border Accord of 2001 spoke to the need for more security plus improved trade facilitation through risk management, but things have gone off-track,” he said, citing the myriad of mainly US security measures. “We are now grappling with the theatre of security, where it’s check everything, everyone, all the time.”

Bradley pointed out the cost of complying with the new border rules is about $500 per truck.

“There has been no cost-benefit conducted so far as I can see on whether security has been improved; the need to assure the citizenry’s security is valid and legitimate but we have lost sight of the fact that the efficiency of the border was also part of the equation. At a time when our customers are trying to compete with good’s producers from China and elsewhere does it make sense to heap the kinds of additional costs on the supply chain that we have seen?” Bradley asked.

“By participating in secure shipper/carrier programs we were supposed to see speedier and easier border crossings; it hasn’t worked out that way,” he added.