Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative - Sorting Out The Deadlines

July 7, 2007

If you find yourself perplexed about when passports will be required at the US border, you’re not alone.  A scan of media reports over the last three weeks will reveal at least three different deadlines for the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) at land and sea crossings:  January 1, 2008, Summer, 2008, and June 1, 2009.  Announcements from south of the border have been made almost daily as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Congress lock horns on the passport issue.  The result is confusion and uncertainty, here in the Brockville region and throughout Canada and the U.S.  And that’s bad for business.

The question seems simple: “When will a passport or other WHTI-approved document be required by people entering the United States?”  The answer is anything but.  As you know, passports are already required for Canadians flying to the U.S. but Americans have received a reprieve from this requirement due to the enormous backlog of passport applications in their country.  In a clear-as-mud rule, U.S. citizens are able to re-enter the U.S. with a receipt to show they’ve simply applied for a passport.

Land and sea travelers, on the other hand, could be forgiven for feeling a bit like a buoy in the St. Lawrence River.  The original target for land and sea crossings was January 1, 2008 but no later than June 1, 2009.  Three weeks ago the Democratic-dominated U.S. Congress passed legislation to set the implementation date for land and sea crossings at the extreme outside of the original target - June 2009.  That is also when a pilot project between British Columbia and Washington State is scheduled to wrap up.  An enhanced driver’s licence is being tested there which may provide a model for an alternate identification to a passport – a model that could be applied across the U.S.  Congress has insisted it’s essential to review the results of the pilot project before proceeding with full WHTI implementation.  They want to see if the model is both efficient and cost-effective.

To become law, Congress’ bill must pass in the Senate and then be approved by the President.  Speculation in Washington is that President Bush will use his veto if the legislation gets through the Senate, which would scuttle the June 2009 deadline.  Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) answered Congress’ volley with a new deadline:  summer of 2008.  In doing so, DHS has acknowledged that it can’t meet the earliest target date of January 1, 2008, but will not wait for results of the pilot project in B.C. to implement WHTI at land and sea crossings.  Providing Congress’ bill doesn’t receive Senate and Presidential approval, the DHS deadline of summer 2008 will prevail.   

This sparring between DHS and the U.S. Congress continues to prolong the confusion and uncertainty plaguing WHTI.  We need to be concerned about its possible threat to cross-border trade and tourism.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) has further questioned the ability of the U.S. to adequately fund the program, and to establish the required infrastructure in time for a 2008 deadline.  The OCC has pointed out that the Free and Secure Trade program (FAST) – a program that is supposed to fast-track pre-approved cargo – has had a very rocky implementation.  Many FAST-approved travelers find themselves in “slow” lanes because of a lack of efficiency and manpower in the few FAST-dedicated lanes.

Ambiguity and the tangled web of deadlines pose a serious threat to trade and tourism between Canada and the U.S.  Business and investment don’t like uncertainty.  The Ontario Chamber of Commerce continue to encourage the U.S. government to err on the side of caution by accepting the June 2009 date so that adequate information, infrastructure, training and marketing can take place to ensure a stable implementation of WHTI.