Reporting and Accounting for Low Value Commercial Goods (Not Exceeding CAD$2,500)
Memorandum D17-1-2

Ottawa, September 10, 2013

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In Brief

On January 8, 2013, the low value shipment (LVS) threshold was increased to a value for duty not exceeding CAD$2,500.

This memorandum outlines the documentation requirements for the cargo reporting, release, and accounting of commercial shipments with a value for duty not exceeding CAD$2,500.

Legislation

The Regulations governing the guidelines and general information contained in this memorandum are presented in the Accounting for Imported Goods and Payment of Duties Regulations,which can be found at the Justice Canada Web site.

Guidelines and General Information

1. Section 12 of the Customs Act requires that all goods be reported to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) as explained in Memorandum D3-1-1 Policy Respecting the Importation and Transportation of Goods.

2. Low value commercial goods with a value for duty not exceeding CAD$2,500 may be released by the CBSA on presentation of any of the following:

Note: RMD information must be submitted electronically by Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) in accordance with the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document (ECCRD) Chapter 16: Accelerated Commercial Release Operations Support System (ACROSS), unless otherwise exempted as specified in Memorandum D17-1-4.

3. Shipments that were originally reported in the Courier LVS Program through a Cargo/Release List (CRL), and subsequently rejected on a paper Y50 by the CBSA, must be re-submitted using a paper RMD.

Accounting for Released Goods

4. Low value commercial goods with a value for duty not exceeding CAD$2,500, must be accounted for according to Section 32 of the Customs Act and subsection 6(b) of the Accounting for Imported Goods and Payment of Duties Regulations. For details regarding the accounting requirements and procedures, refer to these Regulations and Memorandum D17-1-10, Coding of Customs Accounting Documents.

5. When claiming the benefits of a Free Trade Agreement, importers and brokers should refer to the policy guidelines in Memoranda D11-4-2, Proof of Origin, and D11-4-14, Certification of Origin.

References

Issuing office:
Commercial Border Programs Division
Border Programs Directorate
Programs Branch
Headquarters file:
7632-1
Legislative references:
Customs Act
Accounting for Imported Goods and Payment of Duties Regulations
Other references:
D3-1-1, D3-2-2, D3-4-2, D3-5-2, D3-6-6, D8-2-16,
D11-4-2, D11-4-14, D13 series, D17-1-5, D17-1-10,
D17-1-4, D17-4-0
Superseded memorandum D:
D17-1-2, January 12, 2011
Date modified: