OTTAWA – Canada and the United States agreed Friday on Cabinet-level cooperation to improve border security and speed the flow of trade despite heightened security concerns after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and Canadian Finance Minister Paul Martin met prior to a weekend gathering in Ottawa of G-20 finance ministers to discuss concerns that tightening movement across the 4,000-mile border would harm trade crucial to both economies.

O’Neill said the talks, which he characterized as excellent, focused on using technology and other resources to change the way traffic moves across borders.

Tighter security after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has caused long delays for truck transportation at some border crossings. Concerns that stricter border controls would further impede traffic prompted the discussions between representatives of the world’s largest trade partnership, worth more than $1 billion a day.

“The objective is for border crossing for both commerce and individuals to be better than it was before Sept. 11,” O’Neill said. He called for new thinking about border security to get away from the old perception that all screening and customs work must occur at the border itself.

Cabinet-level talks on the issue would take place every few weeks, with both sides working on a list of measures needed to improve the situation.

“It’s not something we should do in years or months, but in weeks,” he said.

O’Neill mentioned some of the ideas under consideration, including the inspection and certification of trucks before they depart and using information technology to collect duties and taxes, “without following the age-old concept that all things need to be done at the border.”

Martin noted that Canada has proposed or adopted new laws since Sept. 11 to enhance the powers of border officials and give police more powers to investigate and detain terrorists.

O’Neill, without directly endorsing the Canadian moves as sufficient, said the two sides pledged to work closely on all border matters.

“We’ve agreed that we will develop a specific work list of things that both sides will work diligently on and that we will talk to each other at the ministerial level every two weeks to make sure that we are proceeding smartly,” he said.

U.S. officials have talked about ideas to speed up border traffic under a concept nicknamed “Fortress North America.” The idea is straightforward: instead of both countries spending huge amounts of money to fortify what has long been called the world’s longest undefended border, they would invest in technology and intelligence to prevent terrorists from entering North America in the first place.

Border proposals mentioned previously include increased personnel at entry points, shared data on known terrorists and criminals, and facial-recognition technology. Trucks with pre-clearance could cross the U.S.-Canada border without stopping while frequent travelers could get passes to ease the trip.