Effective on June 1, 2023, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will no longer be accepting imports of aquatic animals, including European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), exported from Türkiye to Canada for food service and retail use for human consumption, unless they are fully eviscerated. Eviscerated finfish, including gilthead seabream and European seabass for human consumption are still eligible for entry.

Importers are advised that no new permits will be issued for aquatic animals from Turkey for the end uses of food service and retail use. However, importers that hold valid import permits and have consignments either on route or procured, and that have been certified by Turkey will be allowed entry to Canada until May 31, 2023. As of June 1, 2023, imports will be refused entry into Canada.

As the marking rules of origin are no longer required to determine preferential tariff treatment under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), advance rulings will no longer be offered. However, stakeholders will be able to request a National Customs Ruling in order to determine the country of origin for marking purposes.

Memorandum D11-3-1 – Marking of imported goods memorandum has been updated to remove references to “advance ruling”.

This notice is to advise you that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is introducing new hold and test conditions to Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licences for the import of fresh enoki mushrooms from the Republic of Korea and the People’s Republic of China. The new requirement comes into effect on March 15, 2023 and will be in place until further notice.

Shipments of fresh enoki mushrooms arriving in Canada on or after March 15, 2023 from the Republic of Korea and/or the People’s Republic of China must be held and tested. This measure is in addition to importer responsibilities under the SFCR outlined in previous industry notices published on December 6, 2022 and June 2, 2022.

he Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, announced that Canada is banning the import of Russian aluminum and steel products.

Through regulatory amendments under the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, the importation of all Russian aluminum products, such as unwrought aluminum, aluminum sheets, and finished products including containers and other household items made from aluminum, is now prohibited. Also banned are all primary Russian steel products, including iron and non-alloy steel, semi-finished, and finished products such as tubes and pipes.

This ban will further deny Russia the ability to generate the revenues it needs to pay for its war against Ukraine. Canada continues to work alongside its partners and allies to hold Russia accountable.

Argo Customs Brokers is dedicated to maintaining clear communication with their customers and those who wish to keep themselves informed about important importing and exporting regulations. As such, we present pertinent points from documents issued by the Canada Border Services Agency.

Any item mailed to Canada may be subject to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and/or duty. Unless specifically exempted, you must pay the 5% GST on items you import into Canada by mail. The CBSA calculates any duties owed based on the value of the goods in Canadian funds. The duty rates vary according to the type of goods you are importing and the country from which they came or in which they were made. Depending on the goods or their value, some other taxes may apply, such as excise duty or excise tax on luxury items.

ARGO Customs Brokers recently implemented an updated and easy to use duty and tax calculator. It is a very useful tool to estimate how much you’d pay to the CBSA for your goods.

Some goods could be subject to Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) duty, so along with using the duty and tax calculator, it’s good to check with ARGO Brokers to determine if any SIMA duty is involved.

Duty is a tariff payable on an item imported to Canada. Rates of duty are established by the Department of Finance Canada and can vary significantly from one trade agreement to another ~ CBSA

Key Takeaways

• All international mail coming into Canada is subject to review by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The CBSA determines whether the goods may enter Canada and if any duty and/or taxes apply.
• Duty is a tariff payable on an item imported to Canada. Rates of duty are established by the Department of Finance Canada and can vary significantly from one trade agreement to another.
• Most imported goods are also subject to the federal Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Provincial Sales Tax (PST) or, in certain provinces and territories, the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
• The amount of duty or taxes you may owe on an item also depends upon the following:
  • the item’s value in Canadian dollars;
  • whether or not the item is a gift; and
  • any exemptions specified in related legislation.

Associated Links

• Importing by mail or courier: Determining duty and taxes owed
• Memorandum D8-2-2, Postal Imports Remission Order
• ARGO Custom Brokers duty and tax calculator
• Special Import Measures Act (SIMA)

Argo Customs Brokers Is Available to Assist

If you or your company are affected by these new regulations, ARGO Customs Brokers would be happy to speak with you about how they may apply. The team at Argo Customs Brokers is always available to answer questions and can help you understand the effect that these regulations may have on your plans. All inquiries are welcome.

Many Safe Food for Canadians (SFC) licences will expire January 15, 2023, if they are not renewed before then. Others will expire in the days and weeks that follow, and will need to be renewed before their expiration date.

Stakeholders continue to be encouraged to renew their licences early to ensure they do not expire and to allow for uninterrupted licensed business activities. Generic renewal messages are sent to industry through My CFIA (see message example below: Renewal notice for all NCP permissions). These messages are sent to each SFC-licensed party 60, 30 and 15 days prior to the expiry of their SFC licence.

To help ensure inspectors only issue export certificates to licensed businesses, the NCP issues a weekly report to the Areas, typically every Monday, that identifies businesses whose licences have expired or are close to expiry.

If you have any questions, please use the regular communication channels.

Key points for industry related to SFC licence renewal:

If an SFC licence expires, the affected business:
will have to re-apply for a licence and will be issued a new licence number, which may disrupt their business activities including the ability to request export certification as export eligibility lists will need to be updated with the new licence number
will not be permitted to conduct activities that were previously permitted under their SFC licence, in accordance with the Safe Food for Canadians Act
may be subject to enforcement actions and removal from export eligibility lists.
There is no penalty for renewing early. The renewed licence will remain valid for two years as of the original expiry date.
When renewing a licence, businesses should review their Party Profile to ensure all information is up-to-date and accurate. If any changes were made, businesses are to ensure that their Party Profile is Validated.

The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations were made under the authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), following the addition of “plastic manufactured items” to Schedule 1 of the Act in May 2021. The decision to add “plastic manufactured items” to CEPA was grounded in the findings of the Science Assessment of Plastic Pollution.

The six single-use plastic items being prohibited (checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics, ring carriers, stir sticks, and straws) were selected because they are commonly found in the environment, are harmful to wildlife and wildlife habitat, are difficult to recycle, and have readily available alternatives.

To enable industry to adapt to the changes, the Regulations will be implemented on the following phased timeline:

Item Manufacture and import for sale in Canada Sale Manufacture, import and sale for export
Checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware, stir sticks, straws* December 20, 2022 December 20, 2023 December 20, 2025
Ring carriers June 20, 2023 June 20, 2024 December 20, 2025
Flexible straws packaged with beverage containers Not applicable June 20, 2024 December 20, 2025
*Single-use plastic flexible straws that are not packaged with beverage containers are excluded from the prohibitions under certain conditions.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has (CFIA) updated the Automated Shipment Inspection Status Search Tool (ASSIST) with an enhanced tool called the CFIA Shipment Tracker for Food, Plant and Animal products.

Starting December 15, 2022, this tool will allow importers to check the status of any food, plant or animal import declared electronically in real-time. The CFIA has completed additional testing on the tool since it was first announced in the spring of 2022, including consultation with industry stakeholders.

What’s New?

The CFIA Shipment Tracker for Food, Plant and Animal products means that importers will no longer have to call into the National Import Service Centre (NISC) to request the status of their shipment. They can simply visit the webpage anytime and anywhere, to quickly receive a status update.

The CFIA strives to be agile and flexible to respond and adapt to an ever changing environment. We are constantly working to equip and enable both employees and stakeholders with improved access to information sharing and self-service through digital tools so stakeholders can make informed choices and comply with regulatory requirements.

The CFIA continues to expand the services it offers digitally so that businesses can remain competitive at home and abroad.

How does it work?

The CFIA Shipment tracker will share the status of any electronically declared import transaction received by the Agency. To check the status of their import, importers require their Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) 14 digit transaction number. For meat shipments, importers can continue to use an Official Meat Inspection Certificate number, as well as their 14 digit transaction number.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand, can also use the tool to determine the inspection and transaction status for meat shipments. They can use their Official Meat Inspection Certificate number to verify the inspection status once they have received a Release Notification System (RNS) notice advising them that CBSA has reviewed and released the shipment. Other countries will need to have a CBSA 14 digit transaction number to verify the status of their import using the tool.

The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS) forms the basis of the Canadian Customs tariff. The HS was developed and is maintained by the World Customs Organization (WCO), an independent intergovernmental organization with over 179 members based in Brussels, Belgium. The HS is the standard coding structure and related product description system used in international trade.

Two elements establish the customs rate of duty payable on imported goods:

• the origin of goods
• the applicable tariff classification number

The CBSA uses rules pertaining to the origin of goods to determine which goods are entitled to a particular tariff treatment. These rules set out how much production must occur in Canada or in another country for the goods to be considered “originating in” that country and if they are entitled to a specific tariff treatment. This ensures that zero or reduced duty rates are only applied to countries that have a Canadian trade agreement in place.

All claims for preferential tariff treatment must also meet the shipping requirements (such as direct shipment, transit, and transhipment) for that tariff treatment. The shipping provisions identify the requirements to be met for goods coming to Canada. For instance, the goods must remain under Customs control at all times and not undergo any production other than unloading, reloading, splitting up of loads, or operations required to keep the goods in acceptable condition (such as refrigeration, repacking, etc.).

Key Takeaways

• Goods must be classified according to the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System so that the rules of origin can be properly applied. Each tariff treatment is linked to certain rules of origin.
• The origin of goods and the applicable tariff classification number establish the customs rate of duty payable on imported goods.

ARGO Customers Brokers Is at Your Service

ARGO Customs Brokers will be happy to assist you with your particular case and can explain all CBSA legislation and requirements in simple terms.

You are welcome to inquire regarding free consultation for the proper application of all Tariffs and Trade (TT) and you can reap the benefits of applying all Canadian Free Trade and preferential Tariffs.

ARGO Brokers can assist to obtain a RM account with the CRA and use the benefits of the NRI program.

Non-Resident Importing (NRI) Program:
The Non-Resident Importing (NRI) program may be ideal if you are a foreign-based company or individual:

• A company that doesn’t have an actual physical presence in Canada

• A company that acts as both the exporter from the US and the importer of record on shipments coming into Canada – using its own company name.

Non-Resident Importing allows you to act as the Importer of Records (IOR) for shipments imported to Canada.

Ask our specialists and we’ll be happy to help with the CRA NRI registration.