The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has announced service reductions based on the Single Window Integrated Import Declaration mandate. This mandate requires Customs Brokers & Importers who deal with CFIA to declare their CFIA regulated goods using an Integrated Import Declaration which will become mandatory on April 1st. The Single Window Initiative will streamline CFIA's processes yet this announced service reduction has the potential of delaying carriers especially if customs brokers & importers do not implement the Single Window Integrated Import Declaration. Carriers who want to get ahead of these changes may need to review their internal processes to ensure they get their customs documentation to the respective customs broker / importer as soon as possible. Carrier's with the appropriate software will also be able to determine whether an Integrated Import Declaration was used by the customs broker / importer to declare their shipments. Carrier's using the eManifest Express software will be able to determine whether the customs broker / Importer declared specific shipments using the Integrated Import Declaration. Standard CFIA National Import Service Center Hours can be found on the CFIA website.
All customs brokers or importers who declare Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) regulated imports to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) should now be certified to use the Single Window Integrated Import Declaration (SW IID).
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) would like to formally announce a service change for commercial importers and brokers who use the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Other Government Department (OGD) Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) and/or the OGD Release on Minimum Documentation (RMD) processes when declaring CFIA regulated imports to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
As of February 4, 2019, the CFIA's National Import Service Centre (NISC) will be reducing the hours of service for manually processing import declarations transmitted through the OGD-PARS and OGD-RMD processes.
Service hours for OGD-PARS and OGD-RMD submissions:
- As of February 4, 2019 – 10am to 10pm EST, 7 days a week
- As of February 25, 2019 – 11am to 8pm EST, 7 days a week
- As of March 18, 2019 – 11am to 8pm EST, Monday to Friday
Automated recommendations for OGD-PARS and OGD-RMD submissions that do not require NISC manual review will continue to be processed 24/7 (maintenance not withstanding). With these adjusted service hours, importers and brokers can expect a two hour increase in the turn-around time for processing. The service hours for the SW IID will remain from 7am to 3am EST, 7 days a week for manual recommendations and 24/7 (maintenance not withstanding) for automated recommendations.
As of April 1, 2019, import transactions will no longer be processed in OGD-PARS or OGD-RMD neither manually nor automated. Import transactions will only be processed by the CFIA via the SW IID.
The benefits of using the SW IID system go beyond that of prioritized processing. Streamline your declaration process and experience the additional benefits of:
- Reduced paper burden
- Reduced time in processing one import transaction
- A simplified import process
All importers and customs brokers who deal with CFIA regulated goods are encouraged to start using the IID today.
If you are not certified to use the IID yet, contact the CBSA's Technical Commercial Client Unit:
Telephone: 1-888-957-7224
Fax: 343-291-5482
Email: TCCU-USTCC@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
Those who use a service provider should contact their provider immediately to discuss the testing and certification process.
Further information on the SW IID can be found on the CBSA's website.
For questions related to changes to the hours of service for OGD-PARS/RMD, please call the CFIA's National Import Service Centre at 1-800-835-4486 (Mississauga) or 1-877-493-0468 (Montreal).
