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CBSA Announces UPDATED Effective Dates for eManifest House BL Filing Requirement for Freight Forwarders and NVOCC’s

CBSA Announces UPDATED Effective Dates for eManifest House BL Filing  Requirement for Freight Forwarders and NVOCC’s

 

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) recently issued a new ​Customs Notice 20-28​  confirming the  timetable for full transition of electronic house bill (eHBL) filing requirements that apply to Freight  Forwarders and NVOCC’s. 

As of November 1, 2020 

CBSA will promote the final piece of system enhancements that will enable FF/NVO to submit eHBL  for ​ALL​ ​consolidated shipments including: 

● Back-to-Back shipments (Shipment with 1 Shipper and 1 Consignee that is managed/controlled by an FF who issues an HBL) 

● Buyer Consolidation shipments (Shipment with Multiple Shipper and 1 Consignee that is managed/controlled by an FF who issues an HBL) 

Note:  As a reminder, freight forwarders have been able to file eHBLs for consolidated shipments clearing out of a secondary warehouse since July 2017.  However, eHBLs for back-to-back and buyer consolidated shipments were suspended, due to the need for CBSA to implement significant fixes to its processing systems. 

Exceptions: 

● Canada FROB must be reported using the legacy ACI Supplemental reports.   

       o ONE can submit the legacy ACI Supplemental report on behalf of the Shipper if requested and provided by the 24hr advance manifest cutoff. 

● Consolidated in-transit shipments moving from offshore through Canada and destined to the US may be reported using eHBLs or legacy ACI supplemental reports.  Ex: Discharge Port:  Vancouver and Delivery: Detroit.   

        o ONE can submit the legacy ACI Supplemental report on behalf of the Shipper if requested and provided by the 24hr advance manifest cutoff. 

● Consolidated in-transit shipments of US origin goods entering Canada for offshore export will continue to be exempt from the eHBL requirement.  Ex: Place of Origin=Chicago and Load Port = Vancouver.   

 

AS OF JANUARY 4, 2021 

The use of eHBLs for ​all consolidated shipments will become mandatory ​(excluding exceptions  noted above): 

● This will mark the beginning of a six-month informed compliance period, during which time CBSA will issue zero-rated penalties for non-compliance. 

ONE will no longer submit HBL data for Canada imports on behalf of any FF/NVO effective Jan 4, 2021

Monetary penalties are expected to come into effect as of June 2021.      

 

General requirements are as follows: 

● Freight Forwarders/NVOCC's must obtain a CBSA issued 8000 series carrier code (Four-character code beginning with an 8). 

● Freight Forwarders/NVOCC's will be required to transmit ​within the current 24HR Advance Manifesting time frames

       o Advance House Bill data must be electronically transmitted to CBSA using the eHBL      

          data set for import shipments. 

       o House BL Close message set to CBSA to indicate all eHBLs have been transmitted to CBSA. 

       o Shipments that will FROB over a Canadian port must be submitted to CBSA using the   

          Supplementary Cargo data set. 

● Freight Forwarders/NVOCC's can transmit Advance House Bill data using either an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) method, CBSA's eManifest Web Portal, or by using a 3rd party service provider.     

For more information, please see CBSA’s D-Memo Regulation on eHBL (#17-22, 26-29, 43-109) https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d3/d3-3-1-eng.html#wb-cont 

CBSA FAQ: ​https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/eservices/faq-eng.html   

All Freight Forwarders/NVOCC's are urged to immediately investigate and take the necessary steps to ensure their ability to comply with this requirement. Freight Forwarders/NVOCC’s should contact CBSA with any questions about implementation.     

We appreciate your business and thank you for choosing ONE!   

Sincerely,    

Ocean Network Express (North America) Inc. 

To download the complete advisory, please click here.