KEY MESSAGE: The CBSA is continuing to work in partnership with Other Government Departments to support Industry amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In accordance with a request from the Public Health Agency of Canada the scope of the waiver referenced in Customs Notice 20-08 has been expanded to include imports by or for public or private care residences, such as seniors’ residences, retirement homes, nursing homes and shelters. Accordingly, CBSA has updated Customs Notice 20-08.
Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA)
– There is no date set for the entry into force of CUSMA at this time since not all CUSMA parties have notified.
– On April 2, 2020, Canada was the first country to notify of its readiness to bring the Agreement into force.
– The role of the CBSA is to administer free trade agreements that are in force.
-In doing so, the CUSMA preferential tariff treatment will be based on satisfying the rules of origin requirements of the new agreement. While for many goods, there will be no difference between the NAFTA and CUSMA rules of origin, since only one agreement will apply at any given time, it is not possible for a NAFTA certificate of origin to be used when CUSMA comes into force.
– The CUSMA substantially simplifies the certification of origin with respect to forms, process and information compared to the NAFTA certificate of origin.
– Customs Notice 20-14 published on the CBSA website on April 3 provides further information to help importers comply with CUSMA.
Official updates on COVID-19 are available on the Government of Canada website