NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico — The first Mexican long-haul truck allowed to enter the United States after a 16-year dispute rolled across the border into Texas at a crossing here Friday.

The Transportes Olympic truck, carrying an oil-drilling platform, crossed into the United States under an accord signed in Mexico City on July 6 which brought to an end the long-running row.

“It’s an historic day for Nuevo Laredo,” the town’s mayor, Benjamin Galvan, told AFP. “We are the main customs town and the main border port into Latin America,” he added.

The town, Mexico’s largest inland port, lies on the banks of the Rio Grande, and is connected to Laredo in Texas by three international bridges and a rail bridge.

Mexican trucks should have been allowed into the United States in 1995, a year after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but American officials and labour unions opposed the move citing security and environmental concerns.

Until today, Mexican trucks had to stop a short distance from the border and transfer their cargos to American haulage companies.

Bilateral trade between Mexico and the United States reaches one billion dollars a day and 70 per cent of that takes place by land, according to Mexican government figures.

Under the new programme, Mexican carriers will initially receive a provisional 18-month licence to cross the border. Following the evaluation period, they may obtain permanent approval.