INSIDE

Four open border lanes in our future?

By Meg Olson

Traffic will be rolling past all four booths at the Point Roberts port of entry this summer, with a new cargo lane now open.

“Lane four was an empty booth when I arrived last summer,” said Point Roberts Customs and Border Protection port director Christopher Demello. “This winter I had an opportunity to equip it for use.

Commercial traffic is increasing and since Point Roberts was lacking in a commercial primary lane, I sought and received approval to start it up.” Demello said the port was now averaging about 100 commercial entries per day on weekdays, a number that has been increasing by 20 percent annually since 2002.

A commercial entry counts as any importing and exporting of goods for other than personal use, or an entry “to promote international trade,” according to Demello. This doesn’t mean the importer or exporter needs to be a business – for example, anyone who was selling something over the internet would be making a commercial entry if they brought it to the Point to mail to the seller.

On the other hand, it doesn’t mean the cargo lane can be used as an excuse to skip around a longer regular lane under the pretext of “importing” the cup of coffee you just bought at Tim Hortons to sell to your neighbor. “Officers in the cargo lane are expected to conduct a thorough inspection of the goods, paperwork, and the people entering them,” Demello said. Regular lane users who bend the rules can lose their $100 yearly permit, and others who are entering under the $5 single-entry fee would still wind up in secondary, “if for no other reason than to have a supervisor explain the proper use of the lane,” Demello said.

With only one cash register at the port, the officer in the cargo lane can’t collect duty, which will still need to be paid inside, but he can process the rest of the paper work for importing goods and enter it into the new automated commercial environment system the department of homeland security is ramping up to replace dozens of older systems.

With the fourth lane open from 9 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, if two regular lanes and the NEXUS lane are open the port is as open as it can physically get.

Demello said the cargo lane can also be used on busy summer weekends to ease the backup of passenger vehicles. “My intention is to use the cargo lane for a traffic relief valve only when the lane is closed for cargo and only when, and if, we have the resources to do so,” Demello said. “I am hopeful that we will be able to utilize the lane on busy Saturday mornings and holiday weekends.” He added that trends since October are pointing at approximately a 14 percent increase in traffic during the year, and the cargo lane is anticipated to keep that from translating into 14 percent longer spent in line at the border for residents and visitors.