Share your thoughts: Proposed regulatory amendments to support the implementation of CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM)

Current status: Closed

This consultation ran from November 26, 2022, to January 10, 2023. A summary report is now available.

Who was the focus of the consultation

Canada Border Services Agency partners in the trade community, including:

• importers
• customs brokers
• carriers
• freight forwarders
• customs bonded and sufferance warehouse operators
• duty-free shop operators
• financial security providers

What was the focus of the consultation

The CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) project is a major initiative to modernize Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) systems and business processes used to assess and collect duties on imported goods.

Release 0 and Release 1 were implemented in January and May 2021, respectively. In order to complete the full implementation of CARM, the CBSA is proposing amendments to 9 regulations under the Customs Act and 3 regulations under the Customs Tariff to:

1. support electronic communication between the CBSA and trade chain partners by removing some requirements for in-person and paper-based communication and by adding some requirements for electronic communication
   
2. update financial security requirements
   
3. implement harmonized billing cycles that would provide more consistency among billing, accounting and payment due dates for imported goods, and enable a period to make corrections to accounting documents without triggering a redetermination or a penalty
   
4. make "housekeeping" amendments to update outdated references and nomenclature (or terminology) in several regulations to correct the wording of referenced acts and regulations, government directives, ministerial titles, and to reflect current program policy

The proposal would also introduce new regulations under the Customs Act to set out the terms and conditions for the electronic administration and confirmation of financial security to the CBSA.

The proposed regulations were pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on November 26, 2022:

• Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 156, Number 48: Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Administered and Enforced by the Canada Border Services Agency
• Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 156, Number 48: Financial Security (Electronic Means) Regulations

What we heard

We have reviewed all of the comments received and will be making adjustments ahead of the publication of a finalized set of regulations in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

The CBSA will continue to engage with trade chain partners outside of the regulatory context, including through the CARM Experience Simulation (CES) and CARM Trade Chain Partner Working Groups. The CES pilot involves volunteers from the trade community and the agency’s business areas, and continues to play an important readiness function.

In addition, a number of information sessions (webinars) have been delivered on specific topics such as billing cycles, onboarding to the CARM client portal, and “What you need to know for CARM.” We will continue to offer these and other webinars as we approach Release 2 so that importers and other impacted stakeholders have access to the information they need leading up to the full implementation of CARM.

We recognize that trade chain partners continue to have questions and require clarity on some procedural and system-related issues. We commit to continue working collaboratively to address these questions as we advance towards full implementation.

A summary of the report: What we heard report: Proposed regulatory amendments to support the implementation of CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM).

Related information

CARM: CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management project

Contact us

We welcome your feedback through the Treasury Board’s Online Regulatory Consultation System, or communicate with us directly at cbsa.oct/ceco.asfc@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca.