Mexican truck entry appears close

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the U.S. Department of Transportation would soon issue final regulations to allow Mexican motor carriers access to U.S. markets, press reports say.

"FMCSA has fulfilled its responsibility and is ready to open the border," said Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Spokesman David Longo. He told Land Line Oct. 31 the agency is ready to perform safety audits, truck inspections and ensure safety compliance.

However, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has not yet certified it is safe to open the border, Longo said. "There's no timetable for this," he added. "We're waiting just like everyone else to hear."

Meanwhile Pedro Cerisola, the Mexican minister of transportation and communications, complained last week about U.S. discrimination against Mexican carriers. He said the United States has imposed one set of rules on Mexican trucks and another standard on U.S. and Canadian trucks.

He said Mexico would consider bringing the issue back to a NAFTA Arbitration panel. Last year, a NAFTA arbitration panel ruled that the U.S. refusal to allow access to Mexican carriers was in violation of NAFTA.

In a related development, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien said he wants Mexican President Vincente Fox and U.S. President George Bush to review NAFTA next year when the agreement reaches its 10-year mark.

"It will be 10 years (since NAFTA was signed) next year and perhaps the time has come to pause and look at where we're going from next year on," Chretien said Sunday after meeting with Mexican President Vicente Fox. "So (Fox) has invited me to come and discuss that. We will certainly have a trilateral with President Bush next year."

Chretien and his Liberal party opposed the free trade agreement before they came to office in 1993. They have since backed liberalized international trade. "We all agreed we gained," Chretien said. "It's possible to do better."