I.E. Canada is a national, non-profit organization that represents importers and exporters, and is committed to ensuring that trade regulations, policies and processes allow businesses to import and export efficiently. In light of recent events in the trade community and new requirements aligned with the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) initiative, the President of I.E. Canada has written the following letter to companies and individuals importing into Canada.
Letter from the President:
As a lot of you have probably already heard, ICE Corp Logistics recently closed its doors with very little warning to customers. Those companies caught in the crossfire could be stuck having to pay their duties and taxes twice, if they had already paid. Think about what happened when Hanjin closed its doors; although a slightly different situation, it’s the customers of these companies whose goods and reputations are held hostage while the creditors and debtors fight it out. Although is not an everyday occurrence, it does highlight an area of risk in the supply chain. To mitigate this risk, we think companies should pause and take a minute to consider the current structure of their supply chains.
As we stated, the closing of ICE Corp, or any broker for that matter, is not something that happens frequently, but it does happen. This recent example just serves to drive home the fact that relying on a service provider to ensure that CBSA is paid can put a business in a vulnerable position. If an importer has their own bond, this not only provides a level of security for the importer, but will facilitate operations as we move in to the world outlined by CBSA’s New Commercial Vision. With CARM and ARL, importers will eventually be paying the government directly, rather than using a middleman.
That’s not to say you won’t still use your service providers; in fact, everything will stay the same except that importers would now be dealing directly with the government when it comes to payments.
Many companies are concerned by the cost of surety bonds, but they’re not that expensive and paying an annual fee will be one more risk mitigation step that you can take to ensure your business continues to operate smoothly.
Regards,
Joy Nott, President
For more information about I.E. Canada, visit http://www.iecanada.com/about-us/.