Shipping Federation of Canada: The voice of ocean shipping since 1903

As per memorandum D3-5-1, a vessel required to wait at an anchoring point due to port congestion or boarding of surveyors/testers, may do so without providing an A6 General Declaration inward/outward to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), or sending a Conveyance Arrival Certification Message (CACM) for a period of no longer than forty-five (45) days as long as the vessel is not docking, berthing or conducting any commercial activities at a CBSA port, and that no crew is disembarking while at anchor.

To help alleviate pressures caused by the ILWU labour disruptions, as an interim measure only during this period the CBSA is advising marine carriers, freight forwarders (FF), and importers/brokers of the following contingencies.

To avoid arrivals triggering de-consolidation messages and/or releases, if a vessel diverts from the intended terminal of discharge, the CBSA is advising that conveyance operating carriers must not transmit the CACM until such time that the marine carrier is certain the vessel will be coming into port, berthing and confirmed as discharging.

If the carrier has already submitted the CACM to CBSA and subsequently decides to omit the Canadian port of call (due to the strike) the following may apply:

• No release on file (i.e. cargo in ‘arrived’ status not acquitted) : the marine carrier must transmit a change to the cargo transmission to update the movement type to freight remaining on board (FROB). The FF must cancel the electronic house bill and house bill close message and transmit a supplementary report.
• Release on file, not acquitted (i.e. cargo acquitted, release document in released status but not acquitted) – the importer/broker may request a cancellation of the release document as per D17-1-4, paragraph 93.
• Release on file, acquitted (i.e. release has been acquitted by a confirming entry)- the importer/broker must submit Form B2, Canada Customs – Adjustment Request to a regional CBSA office requesting a refund. No further action is required from the carrier or FF, until the cargo is returning to Canada.

In both cases above, upon return of the goods to Canada, new Advance Commercial Information (ACI)/eManifest data is required within the prescribed timeframes. Additionally, should the goods return to Canada via another mode of transport, for example highway, the data transmitted must be the cargo and conveyance data of the highway carrier transporting the goods to Canada using the highway carriers code and must be transmitted within the highway timeframes.

If the carrier has not submitted the CACM to CBSA and subsequently decides to omit the Canadian port call (due to the strike) and go to a US/offshore port, the following may apply:

As an interim measure, carriers may depart from Canada without transmitting the CACM or cancelling the ACI/eManifest data.

• If the goods will return on the same conveyance and to the same port of arrival and destination, the marine carrier will be required to update the conveyance report to reflect the new estimated time of arrival.
• If the goods will return on the same conveyance to a different port of arrival and/or destination, the marine carrier must update the conveyance and cargo data to reflect the change. The FF must also update the house bill data. The importer must update any release information if applicable.
• If the goods will return to Canada via truck/rail, the marine carrier must cancel the previously transmitted cargo/conveyance reports. If consolidated, the FF will be required to update the necessary information (i.e. previous cargo control number). If a release was submitted, the importer/broker will need to amend (if required) or cancel the release. The highway/rail carrier will be required to transmit an eManifest cargo and conveyance report within the prescribed timeframes.
• If the goods will return to Canada via a different vessel than the vessel on which the goods left Canada, the carrier will be required to update the conveyance reference number (CRN) on the cargo report to link the cargo to the new conveyance and update any other data elements as applicable. A new conveyance report is also required by the conveyance operating carrier.

Note that a re-manifest that was approved by the CBSA is still valid if the vessel is diverted to another terminal within the same port.

Furthermore, if the vessel remains in Canada until such time the goods can be discharged, the carrier is not required to update the estimated date and time of arrival (EDTA) data element within the ACI conveyance transmission. This allowance only pertains to the EDTA data element on the conveyance report. All other data element changes (i.e. sub-location code) must be made as soon as they are known.

The carrier is required to submit a revised BSF732, National Targeting Centre – Pre-arrival Notice to the National Targeting Centre (NTC) and the local CBSA commercial office seventy-two (72) hours prior to the vessel’s actual arrival.