The following message is from CFIA. Some readers may have seen a previous message sent directly from CFIA (not the CSCB), and this further clarifies CFIA’s original message. CBSA has advised that importers, brokers and service providers who are not certified by January 1st, 2019, will have to provide them with a plan of action detailing how they expect to meet the April decommissioning date.
Come January 1, 2019, all customs brokers or importers who declare imports to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) must be certified to use a new import declaration process, the Integrated Import Declaration (IID). The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is reaching out to your association as some of your members who import food, plants or animal products may be affected by this deadline.
The IID provides commercial importers/brokers with a single portal to submit all import information and documents required to meet federal government import regulations, and obtain an admissibility decision electronically. Rather than having to send the same import declaration to multiple parties, the IID is submitted to the CBSA for validation and the information is transmitted to all appropriate Partnering Government Agencies (PGAs). A single release decision is then made and shared with the party that submitted the IID and to any party that subscribes to the Release Notification System (RNS).
To become certified to use the new declaration process, customs brokers and importers should contact the CBSA‘s Technical Commercial Client Unit:
|
|
|
Those who use a service provider should contact their provider to discuss the testing process and how to get involved.
Two existing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) service options currently used to declare CFIA regulated imports, called Other Government Department (OGD) Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) and Release on Minimum Documentation (RMD), will be decommissioned for CFIA clients on April 1, 2019.
As well, after the decommissioning of OGD release options 463 (EDI PARS) and 471 (EDI RMD), mandatory use of the IID will be implemented on a gradual basis. After April 1, 2019, the only available release service option for goods regulated by CFIA, Natural Resources Canada and Transport Canada will be the IID. Goods regulated by the remaining PGAs may be released using the IID or service option 125 (EDI PARS) or service option 257 (EDI RMD).
For more information about the IID, please refer your members to the SWI-IID website and share the attached fact sheet with them.
To stay up-to-date, please encourage your members to sign up for the “Imports: AIRS, EDI and NISC updates and notices” email notification service on our website.
It is also important that your members are aware, any business that imports food (or exports or sends food across provincial and territorial borders) should also be familiarizing themselves with the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations which come into force on January 15, 2019. These businesses will need a licence to continue these activities. Food businesses should sign up now for My CFIA by visiting www.inspection.gc.ca/MyCFIA. Enrolling today will make applying for a licence fast and simple. Questions about the regulations can be directed to 1-800-442-2342 or through the CFIA’s contact us page.
If you have any questions at all, please don’t hesitate to contact us by emailing [email protected].