CIFFA 2024 Fall Forwarder

10 THE FORWARDER | FALL 2024 CIFFA’s national committees meet several times a year to discuss relevant issues or developments that may affect member companies. Following is a look at what committee members discussed and decided at their most-recent meetings. Airfreight Committee – Chair Bill Gottlieb • Transport Canada has implemented new security requirements for airlines in response to threats to cargo in Europe. Effective immediately, cargo originating from Europe or Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and arriving in Canada will not be accepted from a shipper without an established business relationship (i.e., an active account in existence before August 29, 2024, with physical and billing addresses and payment or credit history documented through invoices, billing records or documented sales) with their forwarder/agent or the air carrier, or unless they are a Known Consignor. The requirements were introduced with a very short window for compliance and limited communications from Transport Canada – and have already seen changes, leading to confusion for all parties involved in the movement of goods by air to Canada. • The deadline to register in Transport Canada’s client identification database if your organization imports, offers for transport, handles or transports dangerous goods in Canada is October 25. • Transport Canada’s Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting (PACT) Program is still expected to go live in November. Customs Committee – Chair Paul Courtney • A recent pilot project involving the CBSA, U.S. CBP, a CIFFA member freight forwarding company and a trucking company successfully tested a new, simplified process to ship bonded freight across the border to the U.S. CIFFA will follow up with the CBSA to discuss next steps to potentially make the process standard practice in the industry. • The CBP has issued a list of vague cargo descriptions that are no longer accepted for ACAS (Air Cargo Advance Screening). In Canada, the CBSA is issuing penalties for vague descriptions even on companies’ first offences. • The cutover date for the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system is October 5, which is required for the CBSA to migrate existing systems and functionality to CARM systems and functionality for the CARM R3 October 21 go-live. CIFFA does not anticipate another deferral of the launch. The Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT) will soon reconvene and CARM is expected to remain a focus. Delays at the border when the system is implemented should be expected. • In the first quarter of this year, there was a significant reduction in AMPS penalties . CIFFA learned that this was because CBSA employees responsible for assessing penalties had been temporarily shifted to work on CARM. When CARM was deferred in the spring, those employees were back to work on compliance, so penalties will likely be seen to have risen in the second quarter. The same pattern will probably repeat with CARM R3 in October. Customs Regulatory Committee – Chair Kim Campbell • The committee is planning to host a call to discuss CARM concerns from a customs broker’s perspective. Mostly for Q&A, the session will give CIFFA customs broker members and others an opportunity to access the information they most need. It will also allow CIFFA to address specific member concerns to the CBSA. Drayage Committee – Chair Chris Ford • On July 16, CIFFA hosted a drayage town hall and dinner in Toronto , bringing together 25 dray operators in the area, mostly non-members of the association. The goals of the event were to introduce CIFFA to a new audience in the dray community and to provide both an interesting and informative presentation and a networking opportunity. CN presented to the group. CIFFA Committee Meetings August & September 2024