Joint border inspections reduce wait times

Authorities say that wait times for cargo trucks at an Arizona border crossing have dropped from several hours to 25 minutes thanks to a pilot program that allows Mexican customs officials to inspect shipments alongside U.S. officials in the American side of the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Gil Kerlikowske and his Mexican counterpart, Ricardo Treviño, said Thursday in Nogales, Arizona, that the program is another step in solidifying the trade relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. A similar program in southern California allows U.S. customs agents to inspect outbound cargo trucks in the Mexican side.

Arizona ports of entry facilitated US$18.1 billion in imports from Mexico to the United States last year, according a report by the Economic and Business Research Center at the University of Arizona's Eller College of Management.