eManifest: CSCB Submission on Draft Regulations

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Canadian Society of Customs Brokers May 07, 2015

Further to yesterday’s message regarding the eManifest Regulations published in Part 2 of the Canada Gazette, the CSCB has compared comments made in our submission on the draft Regulations with the Regulations published today. These comparisons follow, as well as additional commentary.

1. The CSCB had asked how the new Regulations would affect the current process for hand-carried goods.

The Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement states that: The term “hand-carried goods” means goods that form part of a person’s baggage. Paragraph 2(a) in the definition of “specified goods” confirms that these goods are exempt from ACI so long as they are accounted for at the time of arrival under section 32 of the Customs Act, and all duties are paid at that time. In such cases, the goods will be released using the prescribed release document. The regulatory amendments do not change the long-standing release process for commercial hand-carried goods.

The underlining is ours. Since it is not current practice for duty to be paid at the time of the goods’ arrival, we will follow up with CBSA as this does not reflect the “long-standing release process” for commercial hand-carried goods.

2. In several places, the draft Regulations referred to having the “right information at the right time”. The CSCB suggested that this phrase was incomplete without adding “from the right party”, an important principle directly related to authenticity of data. This additional text has been included in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement.

3.  The draft Regulations included information on CBSA using “results of its monitoring process for continuous improvement” and we asked how this would be accomplished.

The Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement indicates that: The CBSA is in the process of developing a Compliance Monitoring Framework to allow the CBSA to systematically identify and support stakeholders most in need of help with regard to eManifest compliance. It is the CBSA’s belief that the best way to improve compliance is to provide stakeholders with feedback about their performance and to work closely with stakeholders with repeated cases of non-compliance. The framework will include a “report card” to stakeholders with repeated cases of non-compliance after each monitoring period, including an action plan tailored specifically to their needs. All stakeholders in all modes of transportation are subject to the same legal requirements regarding ACI. AMPs and any other applicable enforcement measures will be undertaken fairly and consistently. Details of the Compliance Monitoring Framework will be communicated to all stakeholders once it has been finalized.

4. The CSCB asked for clarification of the term “for a fee”, used in the definition of “specified goods”. The response is: “For a fee,” in the Reporting of Imported Goods Regulations, means payment for exchange of services by means of an agreement in any form or for a wage.

5.  The CSCB asked about the changes to arrival notices for air, marine, and rail, and how they would change under eManifest. With respect to the release of goods time frames, the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement indicates the following:  Previous CBSA-published policies allowing release prior to the arrival of the goods in Canada were erroneous and not consistent with sections 12 and 31 of the Customs Act. The CBSA has therefore withdrawn all erroneous public statements regarding the release of goods prior to arrival in Canada. The amendments to the Reporting of Imported Goods Regulations therefore do not change the existing time frames for the release of goods. However, what constitutes “arrival” in the various modes of transportation has now been expressly set out in the Reporting of Imported Goods Regulations. This is achieved by Conveyance Arrival Certification Message (CACM).The CACM achieves three essential legal requirements:1. It confirms when the conveyance legally arrives in Canada in a definable and verifiable manner that is also rational and consistent between the different modes of transportation; 2. It closes out the legal time frame for providing ACI, which is necessary for the effective administration and enforcement of section 12.1 of the Customs Act; and 3. It begins the legal time frame for section 12, Customs Act report, which is necessary for the effective administration and enforcement of section 12 and everything thereafter, including accounting and payment of duties.

The CSCB eManifest and Commercial Operations committee has been in consultations with CBSA regarding changes to the release of goods time frames and will keep members advised as information becomes available.

Questions and comments regarding the above can be sent to Michelle Criger at mcriger@cscb.ca or Janice McBride at jmcbride@cscb.ca