Laredo ready for FAST

Laredo ready for FAST    U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner will visit the Laredo, Texas, commercial border checkpoint Thursday to dedicate the second FAST gateway on the southern border.
   FAST, or Free and Secure Trade, is a program designed to increase security and cargo processing speed through the use of electronic data transmission and vehicle transponder identification. The program is available to certified shippers, trucking firms and drivers that file shipping papers electronically, enabling inspectors to verify prior to arrival that goods do not pose a security risk.
   Laredo is the second FAST-enabled land port on the southern border after El Paso. Customs began enrolling truckers for FAST in Laredo earlier this year in advance of the formal ceremony. The agency plans to inaugurate the program in Brownsville and Pharr, Texas; Nogales, Ariz.; and Otay Mesa and Calexico, Calif., this year.
   The border-crossing program is already in use on the northern border to clear Canadian