Transportation Summit Planned

WASHINGTON —  In one of the first specific efforts to carry out the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Clinton Administration announced plans Tuesday for a meeting to discuss strategies for improving transportation links among the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Representatives of the three nations participating in the recently ratified trade pact will be invited to the North American Transportation Summit here in March, Transportation Secretary Federico Pena said at a news conference.

Narrowly approved by Congress in a showdown vote last month, NAFTA would reduce tariffs and remove trade barriers among the three nations over a period of 15 years.

Pena said his department would work with other agencies--including the Immigration and Naturalization Service and Customs--and officials in Mexico and Canada in a task force that will recommend ways to upgrade existing border crossings and plan longer-term improvements. Pena would not estimate the eventual cost of improvements.