The Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA) along with the US Chamber of Commerce and other parties are calling for the US government to improve inter-agency cooperation and staffing in order to reduce bottlenecks of commercial shipments at the US-Mexico border.

The two key recommendations, announced in a new report, focus on data sharing and increasing Customs & Border Protection staffing as a means to minimising crossing times.

The in-depth report, titled ‘Steps to a 21st Century US-Mexico Border’, aims to create a concise outline on the importance of the US-Mexico relationship that could be easily provided to policy leaders and the general public.

“Customs and Border Protection needs all the tools at their disposal, including not just technology but also adequate levels of personnel to facilitate the legal crossing of goods and people,” said Jaime Chamberlain, FPAA chairman and president of J-C Distributing in Nogales, Arizona.

Lance Jungmeyer, president of FPAA, said the recipe for success is to ensure that Ports of Entry are effectively staffed to the needs desired to efficiently move goods and people across the border.

“The US has the responsibility to live up to its obligations to provide free and fair trade to NAFTA partners. When Customs is understaffed, that is an effective barrier to trade,” he explained.

“You don’t have excessively long lines at Customs for produce trucks coming into the US from Canada,” Mr Jungmeyer pointed out.

FPAA claims the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) microbial testing of fruits and vegetables at the border are also causing long delays since products are held back until results are clear.

“The results are supposed to be back in three to five days, but too often the test results take much longer, sometimes up to two weeks,” claimed Mr Jungmeyer.

“When you are dealing in perishable fruits and vegetables that must then be thrown away, that is an unacceptable outcome.”

Mr Jungmeyer recommended that the FDA begins testing some of the newer “rapid-result” tests that provide results in a matter of hours.

“The technology is there. FDA needs to evaluate it and confirm that the rapid tests deliver accurate results,” he explained.

Mexico exports more than US$5.5bn worth of fresh fruits and vegetables to the US each year, with around 35-40 per cent of the total volume flowing through Nogales, Arizona.

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