Colorado’s agricultural industry could be hurt if a pilot program that allows some U.S. truckers to haul goods into Mexico is discontinued, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said Tuesday in Denver.
“Every slab of beef, every bushel of cabbage, every sack of potatoes leaving this state for Mexico has to come to a complete stop north of the border where they are loaded onto Mexican trucks and then driven by Mexican drivers,” Peters said. “Those delays cost money.”
After touring the Maverick Ranch Natural Meats packing plant in Denver on Tuesday, Peters held a news conference promoting the Transportation Department’s one-year program, which launched in September and also allows Mexican truckers to haul loads into the U.S.
Six U.S. companies with 46 trucks and 18 Mexican companies with 62 trucks are participating, according to the department.
She said Colorado businesses export more than $350 million a year in goods to Mexico.
Groups such as the Teamsters union and the Sierra Club have challenged the project because of safety, security and environmental concerns connected to trucks entering the country from Mexico.
“The trucks that are registered in Mexico on average have older engines and spew more smog-forming pollution,” said Oliver Bernstein, a spokesman for the Sierra Club. “Congress has opposed this program, and the (Bush) administration is trying to push it through anyway.”
The Transportation Department contends the program can continue even though Congress has passed legislation to end its funding.
Peters said the project could be extended for two more years, but that decision won’t be made until the first year is completed.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com
