It May Not be a Blog, But. . .

Introducing a Series of Messages from CSCB President Carol West

I’ve just returned to Ottawa after travelling across Canada to the annual conferences of five of our regions: Quebec, Toronto, Ontario, Prairie and B.C.  (Atlantic members, we’ll see you in St. John’s in September!). This year, we worked with each of the regions to deliver customized content to members, and the result was outstanding, with more than 250 participants. In our continuing effort to be responsive to the needs and views of members, designates and business clients, we had small focus groups at the end of each session. We have already implemented some of the suggestions from the focus group discussions and I’d like to personally thank everyone who still had the energy at the end of an intensive business day to provide us with such good ideas.

Each year, one of the highlights at the regional meetings is the presentation of awards to our CCS students with the highest marks in the previous year.  Excellence in education and professional development is a priority for the CSCB and I am always impressed by the level of commitment of our member firms to their people.  This year, I’d like to specially recognize Farrow whose students held the top three marks in the Ontario region, and UPS whose students achieved the top three marks in the Atlantic region. We are currently looking at how we can best create support for student study groups and we are evaluating the use of social media to enhance our CCS students’ learning experience. And we are always looking for volunteers to help with the CCS exam, and ideas for educational presentations, so please let Janice Guillemot know if you are interested, [email protected].

We now have more than 4,000 CCS designates and 98% of them chose to renew their designations for 2014, confirming the strength of the designation in the marketplace and the value it offers to individuals and employers. We congratulate each of them for demonstrating an ongoing commitment to professional development and the high quality of service expected from those with the CCS designation. This year, over 80% of CCS designates opted to participate in the first designate quiz of 2014 and 88% of CCS designates have already claimed some professional development points for the year. In addition, our CTCS (Certified Trade Compliance Specialist) designation is establishing a strong foundation in the industry and with clients, and 26 companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with us in recognition of the value of this program.

Another special event at the regional meetings was recognition of CBSA Stars. This year, our members nominated 19 individuals including Border Officers, Senior Officers, Superintendents and Managers from across the country. The CBSA stars were recognized for doing their job with knowledge and goodwill, and making a positive difference to the trade community every day. As the only external recognition program for CBSA employees, it has been both greatly appreciated by the recipients and embraced by CSCB members.

On the business front, we know that members’ IT teams and software providers are beginning their work on the myriad of changes planned for the next 18 months.  With the new Integrated Import Declaration and elements of the Accounts Receivable Ledger project coming on stream within the next 6-12 months, we are planning a session designed specifically for business process and IT specialists. No further details are available at this time but we’re exploring webcast functionality for those who are not able to attend in person. If you are interested in having representation at this session, which most likely will take place in Ottawa, please advise Karen Doiron, [email protected]. As we introduce these new systems and processes, we’ll also be saying goodbye to CADEX in 2017, after thirty-two years. To keep track of what is happening when, we’ve developed a timeline for easy reference – you’ll find it at the end of this message and it will be updated as dates change. 

Speaking of webcasts, we received many great suggestions from delegates at our regional conferences and we’ve already begun the process of lining up speakers for a few spring and fall webinars which will be a great opportunity to learn something new or brush up your knowledge, and get CCS points/CTCS credits. The first in our series will start this month, so watch for details. More ideas are always welcome, so please send them to Magda Jaros, [email protected]. We will also be doing some “in person” professional development events, and we are very excited to be working again in partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency on a joint seminar series on origin, following successful events on classification and valuation.  The first origin seminar will be held in Vancouver in late June.

Another thing to watch for is a new service called CSCB Customs Quick Facts, which we have developed for our member firms. We have compiled a list of Customs-related questions we receive from members across the country and answers we have obtained on their behalf. We thought these would be beneficial to all members as you are often faced with similar issues. This will be available next week.

And while you are visiting the CSCB website, we’d like to reaffirm our commitment to continue to improve our site based on the useful feedback we get from you. We will also be preparing quick ‘how to’ tutorials for all our users to demonstrate how to use our site most efficiently and how to get the most benefit from the site as a tool in your day-to-day job.

Last year’s annual national conference in Banff will be tough to beat – who will ever forget our Iron Chef event - but we’ll do our best. We’ve taken an excellent first step by confirming that this year’s conference will take place at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland in St. John’s from September 14-16.  Watch your daily emails and our website for program details as they become available starting later in May. Please note that this year’s program will be starting on the evening of Sunday, September 14^th with the closing event on Tuesday night, September 16^th. This is a change from our normal practice.  You can make your hotel reservations by calling the Reservations Department at 1-888-870-3033, and specifying that you are calling to book a room from the Canadian Society of Customs Brokers room block. You can also book your room online on the following website: https://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/booking/reservation?id=1401223606&key=A70.

My job as President of the CSCB is often a challenge, but it is also a pleasure and deeply rewarding. These messages aren’t intended to replace opportunities for personal connections with members and designates, but I hope they will keep us closer until the next time we meet.

Carol

Timeline of CBSA/OGD Initiatives