Trade News

The following message is from CBSA (EDI10-40). Members are advised that the CSCB is awaiting information from CBSA regarding the cause of the outage, as well as contingency plans for any future outages of this nature. Please be advised that penalties incurred as a result of the systems problems experienced on Monday, May 10, 2010 and Tuesday, May 11, 2010 will be waived without clients needing to formally apply for a waiver. We regret the inconvenience and thank you for your cooperation.

As part of CFIA's ongoing efforts to improve the Automated Import Systems please be advised that CFIA IT Operations will be performing maintenance that will affect access to EDI. EDI will be temporarily unavailable for up to 2 hours between 8:00 PM & 10:00 PM EST on Thursday, May 13, 2010. During this time clients are instructed to send all requests for release by paper. Contact our National Import Service Centre at 1-905-795-7834 / 1-800-835-4486 for any queries.

The following is excertped from the 13 May 2010 edition of the "Financial Post". Canada's climb out of recession may take longer than previously thought, according to a report released Wednesday. The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses found Canada's reputation for having emerged from the recent global financial crisis relatively unscathed is not necessarily well-deserved.

The list of goods currently subject to measures under the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) and the relevant countries of origin or export, has been updated and is available on the CBSA website at: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/sima-lmsi/mif-mev-eng.html.

a) Chapter 03 was published to add a new OGD extension. 03.07.10.8940 - Oyster seed b) Chapter 07 was published to add a new OGD extension. 07.09.90.3043 - Wild rice, Coba, Gaosun, Jiao-bai, Kwo-bai, Kuw-sun, Makomo dake, Manchurian wild rice, Water bamboo, White bamboo (fresh or chilled) c) Chapter 10 was published to add a new OGD extension. 10.08.90.0092 - Wild rice - grain This created requirement version changes for the following HS Code.

Access to EICS is achieved using a PKI Certificate from the Internal Credential Management (ICM) Service of PWGSC. ICM Services = PKI Certificate Authority. This is to inform you that maintenance will be conducted by PWGSC on Internal Credential Management (ICM) Services during the scheduled maintenance window Sunday, 16 May 2010 between the hours of 05:00 and 09:00 ET. ICM services will be unavailable - no PKI logins - during the full duration of this maintenance window to allow for maintenance activities to take place.

The following is excerpted from today's edition of "globeandmail.com". Canadian forestry companies will pay no export taxes in June on wood sent to the United States for the first time since the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement, the latest jolt of good news for an industry rebounding after a severe depression.

The following is excerpted from today's edition of "globeandmail.com". Canada's merchandise exports declined 0.7 per cent in March as a result of falling prices for energy products, while imports grew two per cent on the strength of precious metals. Canada's trade surplus with the world narrowed to $254-million in March from $1.2-billion in February. Export and import volumes increased during the month. Exports decreased to $33.5-billion in March from $33.8-billion in February, halting six straight months of increases.

The following is excerpted from the 10 May 2010 edition of "globeandmail.com". Ontario and British Columbia will have the country’s fastest-growing economies this year, the Conference Board of Canada has predicted in a report that suggests a recovery from last year's downturn will be felt from coast-to-coast. Both B.C. and Ontario will see their economies grow by 3.8 per cent over last year, according to the Ottawa-based private-sector economic forecaster’s analysis, published Monday.

CBSA Message: CIG outbound messages The following message is from CBSA (EDI10-037). The CSCB is following up with CBSA regarding this issue. We are currently unable to process outbound data for clients using the Customs Internet Gateway. There is no ETA. --- CBSA Message: Update on CIG outbound messages The following message is from CBSA (EDI10-037 Update). We are still unable to process outbound data for clients using the Customs Internet Gateway. There is no ETA.

CCS Designates are advised that Quiz 1 is due this Thursday, May 13 at 2 p.m. EDT. The quiz is available at: http://www.cscb.ca/ccs/2010/Q1/English http://www.cscb.ca/ccs/2010/Q1/French Please refer to login information emailed to you on April 15. ---

Brokers are advised that the correction period for APRIL 2010 Softwood Lumber permits ends Monday May 9th 2010, at 17:00 ET. We remind you of the importance of submitting correct information on permits as this is imperative to the operation of the Softwood Lumber Agreement. Please submit permit corrections for the month of April before the end of the correction period, as is the case for every allocation month of the year.

The following message is from CBSA (EDI10-037). We are currently experiencing intermittent problems processing inbound data and are unable to process outbound data for clients using the Customs Internet Gateway. There is no ETA.

The following is excerpted from the 7 May 2010 news release by DFAIT. The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, … concluded a successful visit to Europe with stops in Stockholm, Brussels and Madrid. He was there to promote Canada’s trade objectives and strengthen commercial relations with important European partners. During his visit to Europe, Minister Van Loan met with government officials to advance support for the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic And Trade Agreement negotiations.

The following is excerpted from today's edition of "The Star". The Canadian dollar was up more than 1.8 cents at Monday's open as financial markets reacted positively to news of a massive package to protect the embattled euro and contain the European debt crisis. The dollar opened North American trading Monday at 97.62 cents U.S., up 1.82 cents from Friday's close. The loonie was among a number currencies that fell last week as currency traders responded to fears that the Greek debt crisis would spread and affect the broader European economy.

The following editorial was written by Ken Lewenza, President of the Canadian Auto Workers for today's edition of "The Star". Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks during a news conference at the EU-Canada summit last week in Brussels. The EU and Canada are negotiating a massive bilateral trade deal that Canadian Auto Workers President Ken Lewenza says could damage domestic industries and destroy jobs.

The following message is from CBSA (EDI10-036). Members are advised that the CSCB will be sending out additional information about the application of HST on customs brokers’ services shortly.

1. This notice announces the elimination of the maximum rates of customs duty on certain woolen fabrics in the Customs Tariff as of March 5, 2010. 2. Article 769 of Bill C-9, amends the Customs Tariff and states: Section XI in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to the Act is amended by deleting Supplementary Note 1 and renumbering Supplementary Note 2 as Supplementary Note 1.