This important agreement will allow Canadian airlines to market a more streamlined service to passengers, including foreign passengers, since in-transit passengers will only need to go through U.S. inspection services, rather than having to go through Canadian Customs and Immigration and then through the U.S. inspection services. In-transit preclearance will also help bring more business to Canadian airports. Of course, the beauty of in-transit preclearance is that passengers can skip the Canadian inspection, which eliminates a duplicated step. To make this process work, the Government of Canada introduced the Preclearance Act during the last session of Parliament. The legislation allows the United States to administer, within the preclearance area of a Canadian airport, U.S. laws related to customs, immigration, public, plant and animal health, and food inspection.
Criminal matters remain Canada's responsibility.
We are now in the process of developing the regulations and standard operating procedures and will soon be training preclearance officers about travellers' rights under Canadian law. This new agreement also allows other Canadian airports in addition to the seven where preclearance is already available to apply to the U.S. government for inclusion. The Government of Canada will do everything it can to help airports wishing to offer this service. The announcement we are making today marks the culmination of extensive consultations with airlines and airports and of complex negotiations involving several government departments and agencies on both sides of the border. I wish to thank all of those who have contributed to making this a success.