The Canada Border Services Agency says services have been temporarily suspended at the Coutts-Sweetgrass border crossing.
Traffic has been disrupted on the Canadian side for about two weeks, with no movement at the border since Tuesday evening.
The Coutts-Sweetgrass is a key border crossing especially for the agriculture sector as it provides a major 24-hour port of entry for agriculture commodities including live cattle, as well as feedgrains coming north to feedlots, and boxed beef heading south.
The C-B-S-A IS directing traffic to other crossings, with the closest locations for commercial traffic being North Portal and Regway in Saskatchewan, and Rooseville and Kingsgate in British Columbia.
The C-B-S-A is adjusting staffing levels and hours of service at other points of entry to try and help speed up processing times.
Last week, Canada’s agriculture and food industry put out a joint statement calling for an immediate conclusion of the blockades and for all levels of government to work collaboratively towards action to reinstate integral transport and trade corridors.
Transport of fruits and vegetables, meat, food packaging, feed supplies, livestock shipments, transport equipment, and integral inputs for agriculture and food processing have already been seriously impacted by the blockades.
They note the blockades are impacting the livelihoods of Canadian farm families, and other ag associated businesses.
The group saying that in 2020, Canada and the U.S. traded $50 billion CDN of agriculture and food for an average of $137 million per day with Coutts, Alberta, Emerson, Manitoba, and the Ambassador bridge being key trade routes for these goods.
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