The following Customs Notices can be read in their entirety with the hyperlinks provided.
This notice provides information regarding the termination of the temporary measures put in place by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to address the administrative difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBSA is announcing the termination of this pilot program at the end of day (11:59 pm Eastern Time) on March 31, 2024.
Any electronic submissions made after this date for Single and Blanket B2 Adjustments or Voluntary Disclosure requests will not be accepted nor acknowledged.
As of March 31, 2024, no new participants will be allowed to enroll in the pilot program. Existing participants will have until the end of day (11:59 pm Eastern Time) on March 31, 2024 to make their submissions.
Effective May 13, 2024 the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system will become the official system of record that importers and other trade chain partners will use to account for their goods and pay for their duties and taxes owed to the Canada Border Services Agency.
This will result in the elimination of Form B2, Canada Customs – Adjustment Request, which is currently used to receive and process commercial adjustments against Form B3-3, Canada Customs Coding Form. This will be replaced by the processing of an adjustment against a Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD).
This notice is to inform trade chain partners that any Single and Blanket B2 Adjustments or Voluntary Disclosure requests submitted on or after April 1, 2024, are unlikely to be processed before CARM R2 implementation and instead will be processed as a CAD adjustment in CARM starting May 13, 2024.
This Notice does not apply to Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) requests or appeal submissions under section 60 of the Customs Act.
Following CARM R2 implementation on May 13, 2024, trade chain partners will be able to submit a pre-CARM “as declared” CAD in CARM, followed by an adjustment. Submission in this method is recommended, instead of a paper Form B2 in advance of CARM R2, as electronic receipt of the adjustment request will result in expedited processing.
In cases where an importer’s 90-day reason to believe obligation under section 32.2 of the Customs Act expires between April 1, 2024 and May 13, 2024, the CBSA will use discretion when issuing penalties, should an importer delay submission until after CARM R2 implementation.
Effective May 13, 2024 the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system will become the official system of record that importers and other trade chain partners will use to account for their goods and pay for their duties and taxes owed to the Canada Border Services Agency.
Following CARM R2 implementation on May 13, 2024, trade chain partners will be able to submit a K90 application to enrol in the Duties Relief Program through the CARM Client Portal.
At R2, trade chain partners will also be able to submit their Temporary Admission Permit requests regarding commercial importations under Tariff Item No. 9993.00.00 via the CARM client portal using the new Form BSF865, which will replace the current Form E29B. Note that the current process and Form E29B will continue for non-commercial importations.
Any valid Temporary Imports Permits on a Form E29B for commercial goods accepted by the CBSA prior to R2 will remain valid following the R2 date until the goods leave Canada, and/ or the permit expires.
Customs Notice 24-14: Preparing for CARM Release 2 Implementation, Cutover Period
Effective May 13, 2024, the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system will become the official system of record for importers and other trade chain partners (TCPs) to account for their goods and pay for their duties and taxes owed to the Canada Border Services Agency.
This notice is to provide TCPs with important information regarding the cutover period, which is required for the CBSA to migrate existing systems and functionality to CARM systems and functionality for the CARM R2 May 13, 2024 implementation. The CARM R2 cutover period will extend from April 26 (4:00 pm EDT) to May 13 (3:00 am EDT).
CARM Registration and Program Enrollment – The CARM Client Portal (CCP) will not be available during the cutover period. TCPs will not be able to register on CARM.
CARM Simulation Lab Availability – The CARM Simulation lab will not be available during the cutover period. TCPs will be able to access the lab the week of May 20.
New Business Number (BN) – New commercial importers requiring a BN and importer program account (RM) in order to obtain release for their importation of commercial goods can continue to work with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to obtain a BN/RM account for their importing of goods activities. The CRA’s service will be offered until 7:00 pm EDT, Friday May 10, 2024.
Release Processing – release processing is not impacted during the cutover period and remains available with the exception of a maintenance window that will extend from the evening of Saturday, April 27, 2024 to the morning of Sunday, April 28, 2024. Details on this maintenance outage will be communicated through the CBSA regular planned outage bulletin.
Accounting – CCS and CADEX will no longer be available starting April 26 at 4:00 pm EDT. The submission of electronic accounting documents (B3s) must be held until CARM functionality, and the Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD) is available on May 13. Late accounting penalties will not be issued during the cutover period and for a period of time following cutover.
Statement of Account (SOA) and Payment Processing – The April Statement of Account (SOA) will be available on April 25 as per current process. For the April SOA, payments must be made by April 30 using online banking (via financial institutions’ platforms); Electronic Data Interchange (EDI820); Point of sale (POS) systems/cash/cheques at Points of entry; Cheques mailed to CBSA, Accounts Receivable Management Unit. Pre-Authorized Debits (PAD) cannot be withdrawn on April 30.
Payments for April will be processed on May 13 for all existing PAD registrants.
As a result of changes with CARM Release 2, May 2024 could be the first month that an importer’s SOA will be fully paid by the importer, based on the terms of the PAD agreement. Importers who have registered or intend to register for PAD must discuss this payment option with their customs brokers to avoid duplicate payments.
The disbursement will not be available during the cutover period.