Seafood border delays worry Nova Scotia

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – The Nova Scotia government wants to ensure seafood doesn’t have a long wait at the U.S. border.

Fisheries Minister Gordon Balser says the province hopes the U.S. government will make an amendment to its proposed Bioterrorism Act, which in its current form would require 48 hours’ advance notice of trucks with live or fresh produce arriving at a border crossing.

“What we’ve put forward as a proposal is perhaps an amendment that would reduce the amount of time for perishable product,” Balser said Thursday.

“So that, in fact, a company in southwest Nova Scotia that loads a truck today could give notification, say, four hours or eight hours or whatever would be reasonable.”

Industry or government concerns must be filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by April 4.

Balser recently returned from the International Boston Seafood Show, where one of the big topics was the effect that increased security will have on seafood exports to the United States.

The minister said he understands American concerns about who enters their borders.

“You have a nation poised on the edge of war, you have the remnants of [the terrorist attacks], so people are very sensitive to their security.”