Audits

On August 6, 2007, we issued our report on Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) actions taken in response to the findings and recommendations in our January 2005 report on the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement's (NAFTA) cross-border trucking provisions. This report is our annual review required under Section 350 (c) of the FY 2002 Department of Transportation Appropriations Act and is not the initial audit of the demonstration project required under Section 6901 of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act of 2007, which is ongoing. We found continual improvement in the border safety program since our earlier reports dating back to 1998. FMCSA took the actions it agreed to take in response to the nine recommendations in our January 2005 report. FMCSA actions included ensuring that five remaining states adopted a rule requiring enforcement action against Mexican motor carriers or others operating without proper authority from FMCSA. Despite the progress FMCSA has made, additional improvements are needed in two of the eight Section 350 (c) criteria. These involve improving the quality of the data used to monitor Mexican commercial driver traffic convictions in the United States and ensuring adequate capacity to inspect Mexican buses. FMCSA concurred with our recommendations and proposed responsive corrective actions. As required by Congress, reports requested by the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are subject to a 15 day hold before being publicly released. In compliance with this requirement, the report was withheld from public release until August 21, 2007.