FAST: Free and Secure Trade Program

FAST is a commercial process offered by Canada Border Services Agency and the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency to pre-approved importers, carriers, and registered drivers. Shipments for approved companies, transported by approved carriers using registered drivers, will be cleared into either country with greater speed and certainty, and at a reduced cost of compliance. FAST participants must meet the requirements of Canada’s Partners in Protection Program (PIP) and the United States’ Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism Program (C-TPAT).

FAST members enjoy shipments cleared into either country with greater speed and certainty at a reduced cost of compliance. Some of the key benefits are:

1. The FAST ID card is an approved travel document for identification at the U.S. border which can be used as an alternative to a passport under the U.S. travel document requirements for U.S. and Canadian citizens.
2. Reduced information requirements for customs clearance.
3. Eliminated the need for importers to transmit data for each transaction.
4. Dedicated lanes for FAST clearances at some crossings.
5. Reduced number of inspections resulting in reduced delays at the border.
6. Verifying trade compliance away from the border.
7. Priority (front of the line) processing for CBP inspections.
8. Streamlined accounting and payment processes for all goods imported by approved importers (in Canada only).

At the Peace Bridge, trucks entering the U.S. have the added benefit of using a dedicated FAST lane to by-pass the truck queue when staging is in place.