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Canada Border Services has just announced it will extend hours at the port of Wild Horse, which mirrors a project the U.S. has already implemented and on Tuesday, Canada Border Services and U.S. Customs & Border Protection met to discuss the announcement and other northern border issues.

Both sides have committed to ongoing communication with their neighbors on the other side of the border with one result being the extended hours at the port of Wild Horse. U.S. officials announced hours at the port will be extended on a temporary basis from 8 a.m. to 9.p.m. over the summer instead of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The pilot program will run March until the end of October and Canadian officials announced they will also extend their hours.

"If those hours are different, it kind of muddies the water. They're the same now. So, people have dependable hours now," Montana Senator Jon Tester said.

During Tuesday's meeting possibilities for future meetings were discussed, including holding some in Canada. "As far as the suggestion today to maybe move these meetings to Canada and have Senator Tester and possibly Commissioner Bersin attend, that's always a good possibility," noted Kevin Hewser, Canada Border Services' Southern District Director. "

The group also discussed improving border access for trade and commerce. Customs & Border Protection has recently extended the commercial permitting process for importing merchandise.

"If a company and a carrier, a trucker, applies they will be extended the permit privileges for far beyond the immediate border area," CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin said.

Although CBP has made many steps toward border access, Bersin says border protection is still his agency's top priority. He says better technology allows American customs agents to better communicate with their Canadian counterparts. "We can have security and we can have expedited traffic."

As far as the Port of Wild Horse is concerned, the extended hours are under review and after the pilot period, Bersin says his agency will check any increase in traffic, implications for future planning and whether the program was cost effective.

Officials also discussed the port of Whitetail where over $8 million in upgrades were made when the U.S. learned Canada had plans to shut down its side of the port. Bersin says his agency will make a request of Congress to close the U.S. side of the port as well. He says Montanans will have a chance to comment on the process before a decision is made.

Bersin could not comment on just how much has been invested in the port's upgrades to date.