There are still a few loose ends, but officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection say they will be ready on June 1, the day the United States fully implements the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
And people in both countries know the pre-9/11 days are gone when they could simply tell a border agent who they were and go from one country to another. Most people crossing the bord
er now already have all the required documents, officials said.
The travel initiative requires everyone entering the U.S. to have specialized documents, like passports or special driver's licenses, that prove who they are and where they're from.
Unlike the run-up to the Feb. 1, 2008 date when the U.S. stopped letting people enter based solely on their word, there is little concern the new rules will stifle trade and tourism between Vermont and Quebec and the U.S. and Canada.
"When I look back at where we were a couple of years ago when they were going to roll this out, there's no way they were ready for it," said Bill Stenger, the president of the Jay Peak ski resort, just south of the border, which relies heavily on Canadian skiers and summer tourists.
U.S. Homeland Security had intended to require the complete documentation on June 1, 2008, but delayed the implementation after howls of complaints from officials in border states.
"I think it's been very helpful for everybody involved," said James McMillan, the CBP port director for Highgate Springs, at the top of Interstate 89.
In the last year, CBP installed scanners at most of Vermont's border crossings that can read chips in enhanced driver's licenses - issued by more and more states and provinces - and special passport cards, which are much less expensive than traditional passports. The scanners shave seconds off the time every person spends at the border, McMillan said.
"At the same time it's also given the public a chance to get accustomed to having to carry certain documents," McMillan said.
U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., helped pass the legislation that delayed full implementation.
"The extra time has helped avert a major mess at the border," Leahy said. "That would have been an economic shock wave that would have hurt Vermont and other border states. Federal agencies today are better prepared and more Canadian visitors are aware that the change is coming."
Source : www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5ifRnEzNtCBGOAlc6KV23um_oHR-w
8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from June 10 to June 30, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said today. Japan’s coast guard picked up the warning from North Korean authorities yesterday, Kawamura told reporters in Tokyo.
