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AAA Commends Mexico Suspension of Controversial Fee Program

5 December 1999

    WASHINGTON, -- AAA, the nation's largest motor club, today commended the 
government of Mexico for suspending a controversial fee program just two 
days after it started.

    Drivers with U.S. license tags were being charged a deposit of up to $800
to cross the border in an effort to stop the flow of stolen cars into Mexico.
"This is great news for thousands of motorists who will be traveling to Mexico
over the holiday season," said Robert Darbelnet, AAA President and CEO.

    "These new fees were causing confusion at the border," Darbelnet said.
"AAA offices in border states and as far away as Canada were receiving calls
from motorists concerned about whether they would get their refund, and what
might happen if they inadvertently crossed the invisible 15-mile border zone
without having paid the fee."

    In a November meeting with Mexican embassy officials in Washington, AAA
voiced serious concerns about the fee, and sought at the very least a delay in
implementing the new fee rather than starting it just before the holidays, the
heaviest travel period for both countries.

    "The Mexican government has wisely decided to reconsider the program, and
we look forward to working with them to encourage travel between our two
countries," said Darbelnet.

    AAA members accounted for more than 28 percent of American travel to
Mexico in 1998. Thirty-nine percent of AAA members who traveled to Mexico
arrived by automobile, or approximately 1.23 million visitors.