Dear Member,
We have been advised that CBSA has started issuing compliance notices for failure to report certain types of FROB (freight remaining on board) cargo as per below.
More specifically, CBSA is now enforcing the requirement that any cargo that is reported as FROB, but which has a Canadian consignee on file, must indicate the delivery address of the destination in the ACI transmission. Failure to provide the delivery address in such cases may result in the issuance of a monetary penalty to the carrier code holder. According to CBSA, this is an existing requirement that has always been on the books, and the fact that it has not been systematically enforced in the past does not mean that it is not subject to penalties for non-compliance going forward.
We recently met with CBSA to discuss this specific issue, and to stress the importance of providing carriers and agents with as much advance notice as possible when compliance action on new (or previously unenforced) items is planned. We also discussed the possibility of holding a meeting with CBSA to discuss other ACI reporting issues or concerns that members may have encountered in recent months, with a view to ensuring that both sides are aware of one another’s constraints and realities.
Given that CBSA was very open to this proposal, we would like to hold this meeting during the week of March 7th or 14th, most likely as part of a Customs Committee meeting (which would be open to all members). We will issue another CL once the date of the meeting has been finalized, but in the meantime, we would ask members to provide us with information on any specific ACI reporting issue they would like to raise during the meeting, particularly those that have led to the issuance of non-compliance notices and / or penalties. We will forward a list of all such issues to CBSA ahead of time, so they are prepared to discuss them in detail during the meeting.
We appreciate your assistance in providing the input for this meeting and hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to engage directly with CBSA on the above-noted issue.
Sincerely,
Karen Kancens
Vice President