More flexibility needed at border, says U.S. think-tank

Windsor Star

Responsibility for congested border crossings should be decentralized to allow for greater local flexibility and distinct groups of travellers should be handled differently depending on their level of risk, says a report released Monday by a U.S. think-tank.

The report, authored by Chris Sands of the Hudson Institute and commissioned by the Brookings Institution, is critical of the "one-size-fits-all" security approach embraced by the U.S. following the Sept. 11 attacks and urges Washington to treat its border with Canada differently than its border with Mexico.

"The unfortunate reality is that the border today remains a source of considerable user frustration and economic drag," said the report. "Progress requires taking greater account of the variety of ways in which the border is used by different categories of users in different places."

The report also discusses the pivotal role an unfettered border plays in the just-in-time delivery systems of North American manufacturers and suggests enhanced mobility at the border could speed an economic recovery, boosting the automotive sector, in particular.

www.canada.com/travel/More+flexibility+needed+border+think+tank/1787247/story.html