U.S., Canada Boost Security Ties

(AFP)

U.S. and Canadian safety chiefs vowed Tuesday to jointly combat organized crime and violent extremism in a bid to boost legal travel and trade across their shared border.

“Close cooperation and coordination between the United States and Canada is critical to the national and economic security of both nations,” US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. Napolitano said she and her Canadian counterpart, Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan, were “committed to working together to combat transnational threats and facilitate lawful travel and trade on both sides of the border.”

The pair met in Washington for the second of their formal biannual meetings, on the heels of three other rounds of talks this year. In an effort to bolster trade and security, they agreed to streamline and harmonize border shipping, create new guidelines for maritime emergency cooperation, enhance efforts against human trafficking and increase cooperation to protect infrastructure and counter violent extremists. Read more here.