The Business Council of Canada expresses alarm over the Nexus trusted-traveler program’s ongoing closure.
In a letter to David Cohen, the American ambassador to Canada, Business Council of Canada CEO Goldy Hyder expresses that it is “very disturbing” that the U. S. government has not reopened 13 Nexus enrolment centres.
A long-standing desire by the United States has caused friction between the two nations.
Customs and Border Protection requested that its employees have the same level of legal protection within Nexus buildings in Canada as they do at ports of entry, such as airports and the U.S.-Canada border.
Customs agents from the United States cannot enjoy the same legal safeguards at Nexus centres as they do at airports and the border due to Canadian sovereignty principles, according to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino.
Hyder asks the ambassador to strongly advocate that the enrolling centres be reopened because she expresses concern in her letter to Cohen that the disagreement will harm firms whose employees do not already have a Nexus card.
The trusted traveller programme is being “kept hostage” by unilateral American efforts to renegotiate the 20-year-old preclearance agreement between the United States and its northern neighbour, according to Canada’s envoy to the U. S., Kristen Hillman, last week.
Business Council of Canada’s letter to the U.S. expresses worry about the ongoing closure of Nexus.
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