No it's not the most feared words of a family road trip with young children -"Are we there yet?" The single most important question asked of Canadian Customs House Brokers is "has my shipment been released? With more than 9,000 transactions crossing the border for their clients every day, Canadian Customs House Brokers respond to hundreds of calls regarding the release status of shipments. For Canadian Customs offices, please click here.  Canadian Customs House Brokers are usually specified by the Canadian importer. A partial listing of Canadian Customs House Brokers can be found here.

To help importers understand the border clearance process; the following is a step by step explanation of how the border works. Since approximately 75% of Canadian and US high-value imports are truck shipments, we will use this as our example.

NON-EXPEDITED, MANUAL RELEASE PROCESS

Step 1: Receipt of Documentation

Upon arrival at the border the driver will present your shipment documentation to the broker’s office. On average, brokers receive documentation from the driver within 30 minutes of arrival at the border. This depends upon how many brokers the truck driver needs to present documentation for the shipment has hauling. This process is much longer for air shipments, as the airline typically presents documentation at least three hours after the plane has landed.

Step 2: Review and Clarification of Information

Once your broker receives the documentation from the driver, they review the information to ensure all necessary documentation fields are complete and accurate. At this point the broker may need to contact you or your supplier regarding missing or inaccurate information. An excellent guide to how the import process works can be found here.

The number of copies required follows below; however, in general, comply with importers or shippers instructions when additional copies requested. Information in each document should correspond exactly to the details contained in other documents for the same shipment.

On commercial shipments to Canada, irrespective of the mode of transport, which are valued at and over C$1,600 the required documents to support the form B3 Accounting Document are:

1. A customs invoice (usually in four copies) containing all the data required under current customs regulations. This is also known as a "Canada Customs Invoice." Additional information can be found here. 
2. Certificate of origin (when required in order to obtain preferences). Additional information can be found here.  An accompanying article on completion of the NAFTA Certificate of Origin can be found here. 

Importers or their agents must provide customs with a commercial invoice or other document that contains the required information. The information required on these documents is the buyer and seller, price paid or payable, complete description including quantity contained in the shipment, The additional requirements outlined in the previous paragraph (e.g. certificate of origin, cargo control document, special certificates) would also apply.

Air cargo shipments require air waybills in IATA format (in place of bills of lading). One copy of the invoice containing all the requisite data currently required by current Canadian regulations is to accompany the shipment and three copies are to be sent directly to the consignee.

The carrier must file a report (at the port or place of importation) on an appropriate Cargo Control Document.

Note: Release on Minimum Documentation (RMD) is a Canadian government policy, which allows shipments into Canada to be released before goods are classified for duty. When a shipment arrives at a port, an RMD package is presented to customs to obtain a release. Fully rated documentation, with payment of duties and taxes, must then be presented to customs within five business days following release. This facilitates rapid delivery since product classification and payment of duties can take place after goods have been released from customs.

Information required for RMD release includes importer number or business number (BN) (BN became mandatory in January 1997), account security number of the company presenting the confirming entry, name of importer and exporter, quantity, unit of measure and value of goods, detailed commodity description and a transaction number presented in bar code format. The country of origin should also be shown.

Step 3: Release of Information to Canadian Customs

Once step 2 is complete, your broker submits a release request to Customs. Assuming all the data has now been corrected, processing of the documentation to Customs is initiated. On average, this step takes 15 minutes for a truck shipment and up to 30 minutes for an air shipment. This request is either submitted on paper to the port customs office or sent via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to Custom's electronic release system.

Step 4: Review of Release Information by Canadian Customs

Customs will then review the release packages submitted by your broker and make a decision to either:

1. Request additional information
2. Detain and inspect the shipment
3. Release the shipment and let it proceed to your final destination.

Note: Your choice of carrier will determine whether or not your shipment clears at the border or later at an inland in-bond clearance center. This can be advantageous in reducing delays often experienced by your carrier at major transit points such as Detroit or Port Huron. The following are some of the bonded Canadian Customs Carriers:

If Customs asks for additional information, your broker will act as your agent to work through any issues and get the shipment moving as soon as possible.

Step 5: Goods are released

As soon as Customs' information requirements are met, the goods are released and the shipment is on its way to its destination.

Both Canada Customs and US Customs have developed expedited border release programs designed to reduce waiting times at the border while information is being reviewed. Programs such as these are extremely beneficial to importers and exporters alike in ensuring the efficient flow of cross border shipments.

For importers into Canada, the Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) speeds shipments by requiring that carriers fax or EDI release information to your brokers port office at least three hours before the truck or plane arrives. This gives your brokers staff and Canadian Customs the necessary time to cover steps 1-4 in the non-expedited process covered previously. That way, most of the information requirements can be satisfied before the truck arrives. In most cases, shipments made utilizing the PARS system are release within 5 minutes of arrival at the border. For information concerning PARS, click here. 

CONTACTING YOU BROKER REGARDING YOUR SHIPMENT RELEASE

When contacting your broker to determine the release status of your shipment it will help to have the following information available:

• Your complete company name
• The carrier cargo control number, tracking number or waybill number of the shipment
• The carrier name
• The shipment date
• Your vendor name and location (Country/State)

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Date Updated: October 31, 2010