OTTAWA — The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has made good on its promise to allow Canuck hazmat truckers to get FAST approved in lieu of America’s requirement to comply with overlapping American security requirements.

The solution, originally pitched and pushed by the Canadian Trucking Alliance, requires Canadian drivers that haul hazardous materials into the U.S. to show a FAST card at the border.

The requirement, which kicks in August 10, 2006, is restricted to quantities requiring a hazardous materials placard, and includes explosives, reports CTA.

The rule, a clause in the Patriot Act, has already been in place for about 3,5 million U.S. drivers since last year. Next month Canadian truckers were slated to comply with the same background checks — many aspects of which mirrored in the protocol for FAST compliance.

But, as CTA has argued, the problem from the outset has been to find a mechanism for Canadian drivers to comply with the system of hazmat licence endorsements since one currently does not exist in Canada. The Patriot Act mandate neglected to spell out how foreign drivers should comply.

While he’s pleased that TSA has finally adopted the solution CTA promoted three years ago, CEO David Bradley says “it is difficult to understand why this announcement came less than three weeks from a legislated deadline, when the process to obtain a FAST card typically takes 6 to 8 weeks — it’s frustrating but seems to follow the pattern of how so many US security measures are being dealt with.”

The Alliance announced in May that TSA was on the cusp of making this decision, but it still took an additional two months before an official announcement to okay FAST as a substitute was made.

“Absent this announcement, there would literally be no way for Canadian drivers to comply with the law. CTA estimates that at least $12 billion in annual trade would have been impacted, involving everything from petroleum products and radioactive materials to fertilizers and paint,” according to Bradley. “On the positive side, we are aware that approximately 60,000 FAST cards have already been issued to Canadian drivers, so we are hopeful that no disruption in this trade will occur.”