U.S. and Mexican officials on Friday signed an agreement to streamline the flow of goods between the two countries, including by truck.

It was announced at the San Ysidro port of entry in California by U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner R. Gil Kerlikowske and Mexico's Tax Administration Service Chief Aristóteles Núñez Sanchez

It allows stronger collaboration between CBP's Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism trade and security program, commonly known as C-TPAT, and Mexico’s equivalent, the New Certified Companies Scheme, or NEEC for short, a Spanish language acronym.

The agreement has the backing of trucking groups, customs brokers and others involved in cross-border trade, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper.

The goal of the mutual recognition arrangement is to link the two industry partnership programs, so that together they create a unified and sustainable security posture that can assist in securing and facilitating global cargo trade, according to CPB.

The arrangement is similar to one currently in place between the U.S. and Canada, and should result in a more efficient and secure supply chain between the two countries, said Kerlikowske. “This is a significant milestone for both the United States and Mexico and the facilitation of secure trade between the two countries," he said.

According to CPB, the arrangement provides tangible and intangible benefits to program members to including: fewer exams when shipping cargo, a faster validation process, common standards, efficiency for Customs and business, transparency between Customs administrations, business resumption, front-of-the-line processing, and marketability.

Read more about it from the San Diego Union Tribune.