IS IT THERE
YET?
No it's not the most feared
words of a family road trip
with young children -"Are
we there yet?" The single
most important question asked
of Canadian Customs House
Brokers is "has my
shipment been released? With
more than 9,000 transactions
crossing the border for their
clients every day, Canadian
Customs House Brokers respond
to hundreds of calls regarding
the release status of
shipments. For Canadian
Customs offices, please click here.
Canadian Customs House Brokers
are usually specified by the
Canadian importer. A partial
listing of Canadian Customs
House Brokers can be found here.
To help importers
understand the border
clearance process; the
following is a step by step
explanation of how the border
works. Since approximately 75%
of Canadian and US high-value
imports are truck shipments,
we will use this as our
example.
NON-EXPEDITED, MANUAL
RELEASE PROCESS
Step 1: Receipt of
Documentation
Upon arrival at the border
the driver will present your
shipment documentation to the
broker’s office. On average,
brokers receive documentation
from the driver within 30
minutes of arrival at the
border. This depends upon how
many brokers the truck driver
needs to present documentation
for the shipment has hauling.
This process is much longer
for air shipments, as the
airline typically presents
documentation at least three
hours after the plane has
landed.
Step 2: Review and
Clarification of Information
Once your broker receives
the documentation from the
driver, they review the
information to ensure all
necessary documentation fields
are complete and accurate. At
this point the broker may need
to contact you or your
supplier regarding missing or
inaccurate information. An
excellent guide to how the
import process works can be
found here.
The number of copies
required follows below;
however, in general, comply
with importers or shippers
instructions when additional
copies requested. Information
in each document should
correspond exactly to the
details contained in other
documents for the same
shipment.
On commercial shipments to
Canada, irrespective of the
mode of transport, which are
valued at and over C$1,600 the
required documents to support
the form B3 Accounting
Document are:
- A customs invoice
(usually in four copies)
containing all the data
required under current
customs regulations. This
is also known as a
"Canada Customs
Invoice." Additional
information can be found here.
- Certificate of origin
(when required in order to
obtain preferences).
Additional information can
be found here.
An accompanying article on
completion of the NAFTA
Certificate of Origin can
be found here.
Importers or their agents
must provide customs with a
commercial invoice or other
document that contains the
required information. The
information required on these
documents is the buyer and
seller, price paid or payable,
complete description including
quantity contained in the
shipment, The additional
requirements outlined in the
previous paragraph (e.g.
certificate of origin, cargo
control document, special
certificates) would also
apply.
Air cargo shipments require
air waybills in IATA format
(in place of bills of lading).
One copy of the invoice
containing all the requisite
data currently required by
current Canadian regulations
is to accompany the shipment
and three copies are to be
sent directly to the
consignee.
The carrier must file a
report (at the port or place
of importation) on an
appropriate Cargo Control
Document.
Note: Release on Minimum
Documentation (RMD) is a
Canadian government policy,
which allows shipments into
Canada to be released before
goods are classified for duty.
When a shipment arrives at a
port, an RMD package is
presented to customs to obtain
a release. Fully rated
documentation, with payment of
duties and taxes, must then be
presented to customs within
five business days following
release. This facilitates
rapid delivery since product
classification and payment of
duties can take place after
goods have been released from
customs.
Information required for
RMD release includes importer
number or business number (BN)
(BN became mandatory in
January 1997), account
security number of the company
presenting the confirming
entry, name of importer and
exporter, quantity, unit of
measure and value of goods,
detailed commodity description
and a transaction number
presented in bar code format.
The country of origin should
also be shown.
Step 3: Release of
Information to Canadian
Customs
Once step 2 is complete,
your broker submits a release
request to Customs. Assuming
all the data has now been
corrected, processing of the
documentation to Customs is
initiated. On average, this
step takes 15 minutes for a
truck shipment and up to 30
minutes for an air shipment.
This request is either
submitted on paper to the port
customs office or sent via
Electronic Data Interchange
(EDI) to Custom's electronic
release system.
Step 4: Review of Release
Information by Canadian
Customs
Customs will then review
the release packages submitted
by your broker and make a
decision to either:
- Request additional
information
- Detain and inspect the
shipment
- Release the shipment
and let it proceed to
your final destination.
Note: Your choice of
carrier will determine whether
or not your shipment clears at
the border or later at an
inland in-bond clearance
center. This can be
advantageous in reducing
delays often experienced by
your carrier at major transit
points such as Detroit or Port
Huron. The following are some
of the bonded Canadian Customs
Carriers:
If Customs asks for
additional information, your
broker will act as your agent
to work through any issues and
get the shipment moving as
soon as possible.
Step 5: Goods are released
As soon as Customs'
information requirements are
met, the goods are released
and the shipment is on its way
to its destination.
Both Canada Customs and US
Customs have developed
expedited border release
programs designed to reduce
waiting times at the border
while information is being
reviewed. Programs such as
these are extremely beneficial
to importers and exporters
alike in ensuring the
efficient flow of cross border
shipments.
For importers into Canada,
the Pre-Arrival Review System
(PARS) speeds shipments by
requiring that carriers fax or
EDI release information to
your brokers port office at
least three hours before the
truck or plane arrives. This
gives your brokers staff and
Canadian Customs the necessary
time to cover steps 1-4 in the
non-expedited process covered
previously. That way, most of
the information requirements
can be satisfied before the
truck arrives. In most cases,
shipments made utilizing the
PARS system are release within
5 minutes of arrival at the
border. For information
concerning PARS, click here.
CONTACTING YOU BROKER
REGARDING YOUR SHIPMENT
RELEASE
When contacting your broker
to determine the release
status of your shipment it
will help to have the
following information
available:
- Your complete company
name
- The carrier cargo
control number, tracking
number or waybill number
of the shipment
- The carrier name
- The shipment date
- Your vendor name and
location (Country/State)
Date Updated: March 27, 2007
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