Trouble at the border – issues facing Canadian importers

In today’s global economy, the transportation of goods could have significant customs implications. Although imported goods can be subject to customs duties, preferential origin treatments such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA.) can provide significant duty relief to importers.

Canada has numerous multilateral, bilateral and unilateral origin-based relief mechanisms in place. Importers should be aware of and take advantage of any applicable origin-based duty relief opportunities. Otherwise, they can face significant unnecessary duty outlays that have a clear impact on the bottom line.

Importers that do take advantage of origin-based duty relief opportunities need to ensure that they manage them appropriately. This includes having valid and complete documentation and the respective rules of origin need to be followed. Failure to properly apply and document preferential originbased duty treatments could result in significant duty costs, and in some cases, duty relief could be revoked.

Importers can be subject to significant compliancerelated costs if they do not manage matters appropriately.