On March 26, 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) notified certain importers under verification that the CBSA was temporarily suspending trade compliance activities due to COVID-19 – see The CBSA Temporarily Suspends Trade Compliance Activities due to COVID-19.

On May 19, 2020, importers received an update from the CBSA informing external stakeholders that

The Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) has created a new dedicated Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (“CUMSA”) web-page on which implementation information will be posted to assist importers and exporters. CUSMA / USMCA / NAFTA 2.0 is scheduled to enter into force on July 1, 2020 and there will be no transition period.  This means that importers

When it was announced that Canada, the United States and Mexico had reached an agreement to amend the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), one of the important changes was an increase to the de minimis threshold, which is the monetary value of courier shipments that can enter Canada without payment of duties and taxes.

Many Canadian import businesses have implemented remote working arrangements for employees as a result of COVID-19 government directives.  Social distancing in business organizations can give rise to costly mistakes because business is not as usual.  Importers have to adjust to the new normal and identify new (and existing) business risks.  Most employees and managers are

On March 30, 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) published Customs Notice 20-12 “COVID-19: Tariff Classification and Other Information to Import Medical Supplies”. This is welcomed and I for one am very proud of the CBSA for releasing this information – THANK YOU!

In this extremely helpful Customs Notice, the CBSA provides their

In normal times, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) conducts verifications (audits) of importers to ensure that they are in compliance with Canadian customs laws (e.g., origin, tariff classification, valuation, etc.).  On March 26, 2020, we received the following notification from a CBSA Trade Compliance Officer with whom we are engaged on a file:

“Due

On March 16, 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) issued Customs Notice 20-08 “Imported Goods for Emergency Use in Response to COVID-19”, which discusses the circumstances where customs duty and goods and services tax (“GST”) /harmonized sales tax (“HST”) and excise tax relief will be granted for goods imported into Canada that will

Direct sellers (also known as network sellers) enter the lucrative Canadian market, often without asking questions about whether there are any Canadian laws they should know about. Canadians sign up as independent sales contractors and start to build their sales networks before all questions are asked and answers are received about compliance with Canadian laws. 

The Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) conducts verifications (also known as audits) to verify compliance with Canadian customs laws.  Importers self-report relevant and detailed information about their imports either directly or through customs brokers.  The CBSA conducts verifications to ensure that the information is correct and that the importer has paid the correct amount of

The Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) has released its H2 2019 customs verification priories.  The valuation verification (also known as an audit) targets are apparel and footwear.  This is the third round of audit targeting for apparel and the second round of audit targeting for footwear.  If you import the items, you should expect