Canada
and
the
US share the
world's longest
border. Interestingly the creation of
NAFTA or North American Free Trade Agreement has allowed Canada exemption on
customs duty on import of US or Mexico-made products into the country. Customs Duty on items depends on the type of goods and their place of manufacture.
The CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) ensures the security of the citizen and controls trade. The CBSA grants the people the authority to inform any cross border practices which appear to be suspicious to them. The CBSA, formed on 12 December 2003, can be said to be the ultimate power in the control of Canadian border. It is actually a mixture of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Canada Customs.
After the September 11 Terrorist attacks the security at the Canada and US border have become more rigid than ever. The Canada-United States Smart Border Declaration has further strengthened the security services at the Canada-US Border. The CBSA employs 12000 personnel who work at no less than nine international air-ports and 61 terrestrial borders. Across the country the agency has 1200 service centers. It does detention works at areas like Vancouver, Toronto etc. The CBSA also checks those who immigrate to Canada and discards people who have taken an unlawful entry there.
The Integrated Border Enforcement Teams (IBET), created as a sort of joint venture between Canada and US takes care of 15 regions along the boundary of the US and Canada through land, water and air. Some of the places which at present are under the IBETs are British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec etc.
