Customs Clearance amid Coronavirus disease COVID-19
A & A is keeping a timeline of happenings and changes at the borders in response to the Coronavirus:
Thursday, April 16, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) CBSA has postponed CARM. A & A had been posting updates on the CARM project here, and we’ve been informed by the CBSA and CSCB that CARM is on hold, for now –
” At this time, we can confirm that the CARM solution will not deploy in Summer 2021, as previously estimated. Project plans are being reviewed, however, given the current environment, it will require some time for the CARM project team to provide future deployment dates.”
More reading: https://cscb.ca/article/announcement-re-postponement-carm-solution-deployment
Wednesday, April 15, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations overall, but they have announced “Temporary reduction of service at Canadian land border crossings”
Full article here: https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2020/04/covid-19–temporary-reduction-of-service-at-canadian-land-border-crossings.html
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) Take a listen to our CEO’s podcast, The Graham Robins Podcast. In the most recent episode, Graham interviews Dave Earle, the President & CEO of the BC Trucking Association:
Apple Podcasts
Friday, April 10, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) New COVID-19 question station at the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey, B.C.:
Thursday, April 9, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
Wednesday, April 8, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
Tuesday, April 7, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) CBSA makes process changes to travellers arriving in Canada by air.
Video here:
4) We had an internal “AMA” today and used https://www.sli.do/ for a Q&A and Voting platform. It was really fun to see the interaction with our people being able to vote, comment and answer questions live and watch the results in front of us. When asked about the “Work from Home” question, it seems we’re on to something!
Monday, April 6, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) Graham is doing a Podcast with Dave Earle, the President & CEO of the BC Trucking Association. Be on the lookout for that! iTunes Google Play Spotify
4) Coronavirus: Ford says millions of medical masks from 3M blocked at border, 500K released so far
Friday, April 3, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) Trump gives FEMA power to restrict trade of essential goods into Canada despite warning from Trudeau
U.S. President Donald Trump is vowing to stop the export of vital medical supplies despite a warning from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to keep the Canada-U.S. border open to goods needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
Thursday, April 2, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) US-Canada trucker border crossings plunge
April 2, 2020
Nearly 24% fewer truck drivers entered Canada from the U.S. last week compared to a year earlier, a sign that COVID-19 is hurting the flow of freight between the two countries.
The Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) said on Tuesday that 88,290 truck drivers entered Canada from its land border crossings with the U.S. from March 23 to 29. During the same week in 2019, 115,239 truckers entered Canada.
The statistics came from the first full week since the U.S. and Canada halted nonessential travel between the countries to curb the spread of the pandemic. The restriction does not apply to trucking.
“It must be noted that no measures have been introduced restricting commercial shipments or rendering certain products as nonessential,” the CBSA said in a statement.
To what extent the 24% drop in truck drivers reflects a sustained decline remains an open question. The CBSA said the number of crossings on Sunday, March 29, represented a smaller drop of 16% compared to Sunday, March 31, 2019.
The agency did not state how many trucks had crossed the border. That number likely is somewhat smaller since some trucks have team drivers.
The agency also said it is working to “provide assurances that commercial traffic is not impeded.”
“Cross-border supply chains are vital to ensure the continued flow of goods, including food and medical supplies for all Canadians,” the CBSA said.
This was posted in the 31 March 2020 edition of FreighWaves.
4) Gov. Inslee extends Washington state’s coronavirus stay-home order through May 4
Wednesday, April 1, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) CBSA released Customs Notice 20-12
COVID-19: Tariff Classification and Other Information to Import Medical Supplies
Ottawa, March 31, 2020
This Customs Notice is for commercial importations of medical supplies.
1. The purpose of this Customs Notice is to help inform the commercial importing community of the tariff classification number and other potentially useful information for the importation of certain medical supplies.
For more information: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/cn-ad/cn20-12-eng.html
Tuesday, March 31, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) CBP announced a new website for tracking Coronavirus / COVID-19 updates: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/coronavirus
4) Every month our CEO, Graham Robins, takes out our birthday babies for lunch. This month, for the March babies, we did out first-ever virtual lunch! It was great to connect with our people who are working from home and have a normal conversation!
Monday, March 30, 2020:
1) CBSA – No changes in release operations
2) CBP – No changes in release operations
3) CBSA and the CSCB have released some more information around the deferral of Duties & Taxes until June 2020:
Customs Notice 20-11, “As such, the timeframe for all payments due to the Agency (customs duties and GST on regular imports, re-assessments, penalties, etc.) are extended to June 30, 2020. This also includes charges on the statement of account of March due on April 1, 2020.”.
Here is more detailed information that we can confirm now. We will keep you advised as additional information is received.
1) The payment deferral refers to all, not just month-end, duties and taxes owing. This is for everything owed from March 28, 2020 forward, including the March 2020 SOA.
2) The timeframe for the filing of accounting information is unchanged although Late Accounting Penalties, for releases within the designated period (see CN 20-10), will be waived.
3) All payments received by CBSA by Thursday, March 26, 2020 by CBSA will be processed.
4) Cheques received by CBSA from Friday, March 27, 2020 until Friday, April 10, 2020 inclusive – CBSA will contact the cheque issuer to see if they want it cashed or destroyed.
5) Cheques received by CBSA after Friday, April 10, 2020 – CBSA will assume that is an intended payment and will cash the cheque.
6) Epayments received between March 28, 2020 and Friday, April 10, 2020 inclusive – CBSA will return these payments.
7) Epayments received after Friday, April 10, 2020 – CBSA will assume that it is an intended payment and will process it.
8) All of the foregoing applies equally to importers (both resident and non-resident) and customs brokers. This applies to commercial importations.
9) Commercial Pay-as-you-go details are under consideration.
Friday, March 27, 2020:
CBSA announces that they will defer Duty & Tax payments until the end of June 2020:
Tuesday, March 24, 2020:
A & A successfully works with Telus to port all of our phone lines over to Dialpad, our new cloud-based phone system
Thursday, March 19, 2020:
Our first-ever Zoom call as a 95% “Remote” workforce.
Tuesday, March 17, 2020:
LinkedIn Update:
Friday, March 13, 2020:
A & A starts moving people to WFH – Work From Home
Thursday, March 12, 2020:
A & A has leadership team meeting to discuss getting our people to WFH – Work From Home