Mexican trucks may haul produce, products in U.S

Mexican trucks are allowed to travel in the United States under terms of the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, the American ambassador to Mexico has announced.

Actually, some trucks with Mexican license plates have been rolling on roads in the four border states, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California for some time.

They’ve been allowed to drive within what’s known as the commercial zone for many years, and just recently started driving a little farther, according to information from several sources.

The commercial zones, which include the corridor running through Green Valley between Nogales and Tucson, are areas with warehouses where produce or other products are ”dropped” by Mexican trucks for shipment later.

Garza’s announcement in Mexico City said nothing of Mexican passenger buses, although they were part of the NAFTA agreement.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters was in Nogales to kick off a one-year pilot program. She and Mexico’s Secretary of Communication and Transportation Luiz T/llez also visited El Paso, Texas, and Otay Mesa, Calif., just south of San Diego.

U.S. environmental groups, truckers and unions have objected to the plan to let Mexican trucks drive freely in the United States.

Under the latest development, U.S. inspectors will be allowed to go into Mexico to check trucks before they cross the border heading north.

More than 600 Mexican carriers, including operators of trucks and buses, have applied for permission to drive on U.S. highways under NAFTA.

The Clinton administration halted the initial efforts for Mexican trucks to drive in the United States, citing safety and environmental sources.

A series of lawsuits was finally settled by the U.S. Supreme Court in June 2004, and federal agencies have been refining the final rules of the plan.

In February 2001, a NAFTA arbitration panel concluded that the United States was violating the agreement.

jlamb@gvnews.com | 547-9749