What You Need to Know Regarding the Participating Government Agencies (PGA) Program and How it Relates to Customs Clearance in Canada

Since January 2019, a significant amount of products are now regulated by the Participating Government Agencies (PGA) program which seeks to move more goods into the Single Window initiative (SWI) which will streamline the sharing of commercial import data among the participating agencies. This means that you no longer have to check with two, three, or more government agencies to ensure that you are in compliance with Canadian customs clearance regulations; you can get all the rules you need to know in one convenient location – SWI.

So far, the following nine agencies are participating in PGA:

1. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
2. Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC)
3. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)
4. Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
5. Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
6. Health Canada (HC)
7. Natural Resources Canada (NRCan)
8. Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)
9. Transport Canada (TC)

Co-regulated Goods

Certain goods and products are subject to co-regulation. Chapter 23 of the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document provides more detail. But, in summary, the following commodities are subject to regulations by multiple entities. Agricultural products and tires are subject to further inspection by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency; vehicles are subject to regulation by Transport Canada and certain aquatic biotechnology products are subject to additional regulation by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. There are many more products and commodities subject to additional regulation and the brokers at ARGO Customs can help you navigate the various regulations.

ARGO Customs Brokers are fully-integrated into the SWI IID system which ensures that we can quickly input your entries and confirm that your goods are cleared for entry into Canada. If you need experienced customs clearance into Canada, you cannot do better than the experts are ARGO Customs Brokers. If you need help importing your goods into Canada, please do not hesitate to contact us today.