Customs Notice 24-18: CARM: Changes to the Registration and Maintenance of Program Accounts for Importers and Exporters (RM)

Ottawa, May 13, 2024

1. On April 19, 2024, the CBSA issued a news release to communicate its intention to reschedule the launch of the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system to Trade Chain Partners (TCPs) to October 21, 2024.

2. As a result, the CARM system did not become the official system of record that importers and other TCPs will use to account for imported goods and pay for duties and taxes, on May 13, 2024 as previously communicated.

Understanding the October 2024 external launch date

3. The CBSA’s announcement to reschedule the external launch of the CARM system was in response to uncertainty in the current labour environment, where potential labour disruptions could negatively impact the external implementation of the CARM system. CBSA employees are critically important to supporting and assisting TCPs in their transition to CARM.

4. The external launch of CARM is being delayed until October 21, 2024 (the next integrated Information Technology release window).

Registering for an import-export program (RM) account

5. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) remains responsible for the issuance of the 9-digit business number (BN9) and for registration to various CRA program accounts.

6. Effective May 13, 2024, the CBSA became responsible for the issuance and maintenance of new or modifications (e.g., address changes, re-activation, etc.) to existing import-export program (RM) accounts.

7. The CARM system functionality to fully automate this process will not be in place until October 21, 2024, when the CBSA will launch CARM externally.

8. Until then, the CBSA has implemented an interim process for the registration and maintenance of import-export program (RM) accounts.

Interim process for registration and maintenance of RM accounts

9. Importers, exporters or customs brokers acting on behalf of their client, will need to complete and submit the applicable CBSA BSF form to register for a new RM account or to seek modification(s) to an existing RM account.

• Form BSF947 - “Request for a CBSA Import/Export Program Account”, is to be used to request a new RM account. The importer/exporter must have a valid BN9 issued by the CRA before requesting an import-export program (RM) account.
• Form BSF948 – “Request for Change(s) to Existing CBSA Import/Export Program Account”, is to be used to request changes to existing RM account, including requests to re-activate an expired RM account.

10. Once completed, the BSF form must be emailed to the CBSA’s CARM RM Support Team at carm_rm_support-soutien_rm_gcra@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca. Services are available from 7:00am - 7:00pm Monday through Friday eastern standard time.

11. Information regarding your request, including your RM account number once issued will be communicated via return email. Please note that once processed, activation of RM account may take a few hours to be uploaded for use in CBSA commercial systems and up to 7 days to be available for registration in the CARM Client Portal.

12. In order to ensure the continued timely release of imported goods during this interim period, the CBSA is offering two options to importers who may be waiting for RM account requests to be processed:

• Contact a customs broker – Customs broker will be permitted to use their BN15 to obtain release of goods. A list of Customs Brokers is available on the CBSA website.
• For importers not using the services of a Customs Broker, please complete B3-3 Canada Customs Coding Form and present to the CBSA customs office of release. Field 1 – “Importer No.” should be left blank. Your local CBSA office will provide the information needed to complete this field once presented to obtain release of goods.

13. The CBSA has added additional resources to process incoming RM account requests and triage the processing of urgent requests within 24 hours.

14. In order to allow for timely processing of RM issuance and change requests, the CBSA asks that submitters of BSF forms refrain from contacting the CARM RM Support Team for an update on in-progress requests.

Additional information

15. The CBSA will be communicating additional information on detailed activities leading up to the implementation of CARM in the coming months. Please visit the CBSA website to learn more about CARM.

16. For information regarding 9-digit business number registration, please refer to CRA’s Business number webpage. For resident businesses, you can also call the CRA business enquiry line at 1-800-959-5525. For non-resident businesses, you can call the Non-Resident GST/HST Registration line at 1-866-453-0452 or refer to CRA’s Non-resident GST/HST enquiry page for other contact options.

17. For additional information and assistance regarding this notice or for information on the status of your existing import-export program (RM) account, please email: carm_rm_support-soutien_rm_gcra@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca