DC Velocity - February 2016

Carriers bringing freight via highway and rail into Canada from the U.S. will now face fees and penalties if they do not comply with the security regulation known as the eManifest program.

Under the provision, which took effect in mid-January, incoming carriers are required to digitally share cargo and conveyance information before entering the country via road or rail, or else face potential fines or denial of entry. Many carriers in North America will be affected by the change, because truck and rail accounts for 70 percent of trade by revenue between the two countries, with about 6 million truck border crossings per year, according to 2014 figures from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has been asking carriers to share the data since 2010 as it was phasing in eManifest. However, the agency had not levied fines for noncompliance until mid-January.

The eManifest rule is part of Canada’s Advance Commercial Information (ACI) program, which also covers ocean and air cargo. When fully implemented, the legislation will require all carriers, freight forwarders, and importers to send advance commercial information about their shipments electronically to Canadian customs officials, according to the CBSA website.

The goal is to improve the CBSA’s ability to detect high-risk shipments—such as drugs, stolen items, and counterfeit goods—before they arrive at the border, while allowing low-risk, legitimate trade to cross the border more efficiently, the agency says.

Generally, truckers are required to file electronic data at least one hour before arrival at the 5,525-mile border, including specific data about the buyer, consignee, countries of export and origin, exporter, manufacturer, importer, and seller. The data deadlines are somewhat earlier for rail (two hours before arrival), air (four hours), and ocean ( 24 hours).

Most large trucking companies are accustomed to ACI filings, have been testing eManifest solutions for years, and will have little trouble complying. But smaller carriers could struggle to keep up, says Glenn Palanacki, product manager for North American customs for Descartes Systems Group.

“If some people haven’t been compliant, this is customs’ way of saying ‘We’re going to charge you and it will come out of your pocketbook, and that will hurt,’” Palanacki said.

Companies can file the data through the CBSA’s online eManifest Portal, their in-house electronic data interchange (EDI) systems, or via a third-party partner like Descartes. Descartes said it can help clients comply by integrating its data-filing pipeline with a client’s back-office platforms— such as transportation management systems or bill-of-lading databases—and then compiling the necessary information and filing it directly with Canadian customs.