"New Vision" for U.S.-Canada Border

President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper met last week to kick off a longer-term negotiation on border issues. The two signed a pact Friday calling for greater U.S.-Canada cooperation in trade and security.

Cross-border trade between the U.S. and Canada became strained after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States in 2001. The two countries "intend to pursue a perimeter approach to security" while eliminating many of the hurdles that slow the flow of people and goods at the border.

"We intend to work towards developing an integrated cargo security strategy that ensures compatible screening methods for goods and cargo before they depart foreign ports bound for Canada or the United States, so that once they enter the territory of either we can, together, accelerate subsequent crossings at land ports of entry," they said in a joint declaration.

Obama and Harper directed the creation of a United States-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC), composed of senior regulatory, trade, and foreign affairs officials from both governments.

Canadian and U.S. officials are also seeking a joint approach to beefing up infrastructure at the top 10 publicly owned ports of entry.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance said it welcomed the announcement. At least once every three seconds a truck crosses the Canada-U.S. border - a border which CTA says has thickened considerably over the past decade in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

"We have been calling upon the governments on both sides of the border to enter into a new shared, smart border agreement for some time," says CTA's president and CEO, David Bradley. "We are hopeful this process will lead to a better balance between security and trade imperatives, restores a risk management approach to the border and a meaningful return on investment in the trusted trader programs."

There's no firm timetable set for when this will all happen. The Canadian and American governments will establish a "Beyond the Border Working Group" that will report back to Obama and Harper in the coming months.