Importers who import commercial goods into Canada must maintain books and records as prescribed by the Customs Act and Regulations. Importers must be prepared to provide access to and copies of to Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for trade audit purposes. In this blog, we will explore the dos and don’ts of importer record keeping responsibilities for Customs.

BN and RM Numbers | What Do They Have To Do With Importing Into Canada?

What is Step 1 when importing commercially into Canada? Well, the answer is obtaining a Business Number (BN). In this blog we will explore what it is, why importers need one and how it’s different from an Import/Export (RM) number.

Customs Referrals, Detention and Demurrage

Many importers wonder why their shipment may have been referred by Customs for examination. Additionally, importers who import via a seaport may be presented with charges such as demurrage and detention and not be clear on what these charges relate to. Let’s take a closer look at these terms to gain some understanding.

Single Window Initiative: What’s Working And What’s Not

The Internal Audit and Program Evaluation Directorate of the Canadian Government completed a horizontal evaluation of the Single Window Initiative (SWI) and published it in December 2020. A horizontal evaluation determines the extent to which a program or project has achieved expected results.This evaluation examined the Single Window Initiative (SWI) project implementation between fiscal year 2012 to 2013 and fiscal year 2016 to 2017 and was supplemented with an assessment of SWI information up to November 2019. The evaluation was done to assess “whether the SWI achieved a modernized and streamlined approach for the electronic submission and risk assessment of data for regulated commercial goods being imported into Canada.”

Anti-Dumping, Countervailing, And Provisional Duty Simplified

Generally, when goods are imported into Canada they are subject to customs duty. However, if it is found that these goods from a specific country and company have caused injury to a Canadian domestic industry, or threatened to cause injury by being dumped or subsidized, then another duty could be assessed on the goods. These are known as anti-dumping and/or countervailing duties.

US Canada Dairy Supply Management Resolution

The Canada US Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) came into effect in July 2020. Shortly thereafter the new dispute resolution of this trade agreement was activated with the US announcing its first CUSMA dispute in December 2020. The dispute was against Canada’s allocation of dairy tariff rate quotas (TRQs) on milk, cream, cheese, industrial cheese, milk powders, condensed milk and butter among other goods. The US disputed Canada’s practise of setting aside certain allocations to dairy processors, and believes the administration of tariff quotas which violates CUSMA. Canada’s system of Supply Management has been a bone of contention between the US and Canada for a number of years now.

CBSA Targeted Verifications

Twice a year, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) releases its Trade Compliance Verification Priorities list. CBSA manages trade compliance with the tariff classification, customs valuation, and origin programs.

Trade Update: What’s Expected In 2022?

With 2021 coming to a close and the New Year fast approaching, we wanted to look forward to what we can expect for 2022 with regards to importing into Canada and shipping goods internationally.