Beginning January 11, 2016, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) will begin enforcing the monetary penalty phase of the Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) for highway carriers who do not comply with the Advance Commercial Information (ACI) eManifest pre arrival cargo and conveyance data requirements. Highway carriers who do not comply will experience delays and may incur monetary penalties. The regulatory amendments supporting ACI/eManifest were originally published on May 6, 2015, in the Canada Gazette, Part II. The CBSA granted Canadian businesses and trade partners a six month grace period, from July 10, 2015 to January 10, 2016, where those identified for non-compliance with ACI requirements were issued zero-rated AMPS penalties.

In addition, to provide clients with an opportunity to correct compliance violations, the CBSA introduced a 30-day non-escalation period of penalty levels from the first to the second level for low and medium risk contraventions in the automated system. AMPS penalties are progressive; multiple occurrences of the same contravention by the same client receive progressively higher penalty amounts.

Examples of ACI eManifest non-compliance that result in AMPS penalties (please view the Master Penalty Document, available on the CBSA website, for a full list of infractions subject to monetary penalties):

1. ACI submitted was not true, accurate and/or complete.
2. Failure to submit the ACI related to cargo and/or conveyance.
3. Failure to submit ACI in the prescribed time or prescribed manner.
4. Failure to comply with a notification issued by the CBSA regarding the goods on board or expected to be on board the conveyance.
5. Failure to submit a notification within prescribed time frames of any correction to any ACI.
6. Person failed to transmit the Conveyance Arrival Certification Message (CACM) as the Governor in Council may prescribe. Person failed to report conveyances inbound and/or upon arrival.

Deringer and the CBSA remain committed to supporting clients in their transition to eManifest throughout the implementation phase through online resources and dedicated client support activities. Visit the CBSA website regularly and subscribe to the eManifest Web feed to be notified of important eManifest updates. For the most up-to-date information about Canadian eManifest, please visit the eManifest section of the CBSA website. For additional questions, please send an email to Deringer’s Compliance Department.