Oh, Canada!CBP and USDA crack down on Canadian lunches

Where’s the beef? Canadians take special pride in not being Americans, but there are times when they insist that it should be treated as a distinction without a difference. One of these times is at the border, where both Americans and their northern neighbors think they should be permitted to cross without delay or harrassment. Those days are over, though, and not just because of terrorism. Disagreements over agricultural trade policies and concerns about mad cow and other food-borne diseases have engendered a more aggressive posture by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it is Canadian truckers who seem to be drawing most of the attention. According to a number of long-haulers, even the truckers’ lunchboxes are drawing suspicion, with a number being confiscated as contrary to American importation laws. Needless to say, the Canadian trucking industry is very unhappy.

Most of the truckers being targeted at the border are those aleady singled out for additional inspection. It’s like “taking a cannon to a fruit fly,” said Canadian Trucking Alliance CEO David Bradley, pointing out that Canadian truckers already submit themselves to background checks in order to obtain a FAST card. The results can be horrifying to anyone who appreciates the midday meal. “I was forced a couple of times to throw out salami sandwiches,” said Kevin Satchell, a Calgary owner-operator. “My own personal food and God forbid it’s got any beef on it.”

Mike Milne of the U.S .Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Agency suggests that drivers go the CBP Web site ahead of time to find out if their meal is kosher enough to cross the border. If that is not possible, “call the port of entry you’ll be using — it’s easy for someone to call ahead and say, ‘I’ve got a baloney sandwich, is that prohibited?’”

-read more in this Today’sTrucking report