On July 1, 2016, the Safety of Life at Sea (“SOLAS”) requirement for shippers to provide steamship lines with the verified gross mass (“VGM”) of each shipment takes effect internationally.
While under development at the International Maritime Organization for years, these requirements caught many in the U.S. by surprise last summer when the deadline was
On march 15, 2016, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal issued a Practice Notice entitled “Agreed Statement of Fact – Appeals”. It is a very short statement from the Tribunal (produced in it’s entirety below):
“As part of an effort to reduce parties’ costs and the time for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal) to
On May 11, 2016, I testified before the Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce, which is currently considering internal trade in Canada. My testimony is posted on the Senate website. In my opening presentation, I discussed the Comeau decision, which is one of the most interesting decisions I have read
On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed into law the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) which brought with it a new era of accountability and expediency in protecting employers’ intellectual property. Whether proprietary lines of code in a software program, the secret recipe for fried chicken or highly-valued customer lists, “trade secrets” provide
Most Canadian businesses do not relish a visit from a Canadian tax auditor and also do not view with anticipation a fax from the United States Customs and Border Protection (USCBP) asking to come for a visit to conduct a NAFTA verification of their certificates of origin.
NAFTA Article 506 sets out the authority for
Originally published by the Journal of Commerce in May 2016
Only three (3) years ago, when Tom Winkowski was Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and John Morton the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”), both of them acknowledged publicly how their respective agencies had lost such significant depths of knowledge and
Victoria Day is the start of the long week-end season. Canadians travel outside Canada to visit friends and family and to shop. The Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) is on the lookout for contraventions of the Customs Act and other border laws.
Here is our survival guide to make sure the CBSA is happy with
Small and medium sized enterprises mistakenly accept costs and financial risk when they agree to Incoterms without considering the consequences. SMEs should care about Incoterms because mistakes can be costly – very costly.
What is an Incoterm? Answer: Incoterms is an abbreviation of the phrase International Commercial Terms. The Incoterms rules are a
NEXUS pass holders sometimes run into difficulties when they return to Canada after a trip abroad. The NEXUS pass holder may discover that their “disagreement” with the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) upon re-entering Canada may result in the
On May 12, 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) released revised D-Memorandum D11-4-20 “Procedures for Verifications of Origin Under Free Trade Agreements”. The overall objective of an free trade agreement verification is to confirm that products covered by a certificate of origin completed by the exporter or producer qualify as originating in accordance with