Transmitting Accurate eManifest Cargo Data

(CBSA)

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this communiqué is to advise clients transmitting eManifest highway carrier data to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) of the importance of transmitting an accurate Cargo Control Number (CCN).

CBSA POLICY DECISION:
When the highway carrier and shipment arrive at the border, the driver is required to provide a lead sheet to the CBSA Border Services Officer (BSO). The lead sheet will contain:

• a bar-coded Conveyance Reference Number (CRN), or

• a bar-coded Cargo Control Number (CCN) with a handwritten CRN, or

• a handwritten CRN if an alternate bar-coded document is also being presented with the lead sheet [e.g. a Pre-Arrival Review System (PARS) document with a bar-coded PARS number].

The CBSA requires a bar-code to enable the BSO to quickly scan the number into the CBSA system and link to the data transmitted prior to arrival.

The carrier will either:

a) provide the driver with a bar-coded PARS number specific to each shipment so that the carrier knows which PARS number is being used and will also use the same number when transmitting their eManifest cargo data to the CBSA prior to arrival, or

b) the driver will contact the carrier as soon as a PARS number is used for a shipment (similar to how they notify the broker today), and the carrier will then know which number to electronically transmit to the CBSA.

It is very important that all carriers understand that when using PARS, the electronically transmitted CCN must exactly match the PARS number used on arrival at the border, inclusive of the acronym “PARS”, where applied.

For example, if the bar-coded PARS number that the driver provides at the border for a shipment is “1234PARS56789”, then the CCN that the carrier electronically transmits prior to arrival must also be “1234PARS56789”. It is not a requirement to embed the letters “PARS” into a PARS number, but if a carrier does embed letters into the PARS number the driver provides at the border, then the carrier must use the identical number in their eManifest electronic cargo transmission.

Clients are also reminded to pay particular attention when using the letters “I” and “O” and the numbers “1” and “0” in their CCNs or PARS numbers that they use the same letters/numbers when quoting the CCN in both the pre-arrival eManifest transmission and in arranging for the broker’s release documents.

Carriers will experience delays at the border when the transmitted CCN does not match the PARS number provided by the driver. Additionally, carriers who have Release Notification System (RNS) capabilities will not receive RNS messages. Inaccurate CCN transmission by carriers could result in sanctions for non-compliance.

Jailing Not Likely to Sway Opponents of a New Bridge

(Detroit Free Press – Dawson Bell)

Billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel (Matty) Moroun had a bad day Thursday.  But he probably doesn’t have to worry that being jailed for contempt of court improves the chance Gov. Rick Snyder will persuade the Legislature to approve construction of a publicly owned bridge a few miles downriver from Moroun’s crossing.

Opponents of the public bridge project, which is languishing in the state Senate after it was rejected in committee last fall, said Moroun’s incarceration was irrelevant to their concerns about Snyder’s proposal.

“How Matty Moroun conducts his business is not a major concern with our members,” said Ari Adler, a spokesman for House Speaker Jase Bolger, R-Marshall. “Our concerns are about the proposed new bridge, the need for it” and the potential that taxpayers could end up on the hook if it can’t pay for itself.

Amber McCann, spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, who sponsored the bridge bill, said it was unlikely the views of lawmakers on either side of the issue would shift because Moroun and Detroit International Bridge Co. President Dan Stamper were jailed for contempt. Read more here.

Canada Posts Surprise Trade Surplus

(Montreal Gazette)

Canada’s trade balance with the rest of the world unexpectedly swung into a surplus in November, as exports — led by energy products and automobiles — increased while imports declined.

Statistics Canada said Friday the country had a surplus of $1.07 billion during the month, compared with a revised $487-million deficit in October.

Most economists had expected a trade deficit of $500 million in November. Read more here.

Note: Summary statistics and links to the data files are on the Statistics Canada website here. Export and import price indexes can be found here.

U.S. Chamber’s Donohue Sees 2012 Growth of Less Than 3%

(Bloomberg)

The U.S. economy will slow early this year from the pace at the end of 2011, then accelerate and finish with annual growth of less than 3 percent, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Thomas Donohue said as the nation’s largest business group offered its forecast for 2012.

“America’s most pressing economic challenge is the lack of sufficient growth to create jobs, expand incomes, reduce government deficits, and fund essential programs,” Donohue said today in Washington during his annual speech on the state of U.S. business. [...]

Increased trade could provide more opportunities for growth, Donohue said. The proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement with eight other nations can be completed this year, and free-trade accords are possible with Brazil, Egypt, India and Indonesia, he said.

U.S. businesses also will benefit from Russia being granted permanent normal trade relations after meeting conditions to join the World Trade Organization. Read more here.

Canada-U.S. Bridge: With Work Undone, Billionaire and Aide Jailed

(LA Times)

The United States and Canada peacefully share the world’s longest border, but a bridge linking the two countries has prompted legal fireworks -- including the jailing of an 84-year-old billionaire and one of his top business aides.

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Prentis Edwards on Thursday ordered Manuel “Matty” Moroun, 84, and Dan Stamper, an executive with Detroit International Bridge Co., to jail for failing to comply with deadlines to build freeway connections to the Ambassador Bridge, which links Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

Both men were taken out of a Detroit courtroom and sent to jail until they comply with the judge’s order that they complete their contract with the state to build the connecting ramps. Read more here.

Berkshire Company Halts Exports to Canada Over Prison Labour Issue

(Bloomberg-Vancouver Sun)

A Berkshire Hathaway Inc. building-materials unit said it voluntarily stopped shipping some flooring products to Canada after discovering the nation doesn’t allow importation of goods made with prison labor.

Shaw Industries Group Inc., based in Dalton, Georgia, learned in December that the hardwood-floor products can’t legally be imported to Canada, according to an e-mailed statement from Scott Sandlin, a company vice president. Shaw contacted Canadian authorities and halted the shipments to the country, he said. Read more here.

Rail Traffic Surge Shows Canada Economy May Beat Growth Forecasts

(Bloomberg)

A boom in traffic at Canadian National Railways Co. (CNR) and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (CP), the country’s two largest rail companies, may mean Canada’s recovery will be buoyant even after economists and the Bank of Canada pared their outlook for growth this year.

Canadian freight volumes accelerated in the fourth quarter to their fastest pace in 2011 on a year-over-year basis, while commodity carloads were up 6.8 percent in December from November on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to data from the Association of American Railroads. Data from Statistics Canada showing stronger volumes in the August-October period also suggest future economic growth. Read more here.

Anderson Stops Shipping Prison-Labor Produced Products to Canada

(Hardwood Floors)

Anderson Hardwood Floors (Clinton, S.C.) has stopped shipping wood flooring produced using prison labor into Canada, according to a memorandum from Melmart Distributors Inc. addressed to dealers of Anderson's Appalachian, Virginia Vintage, Biltmore and eponymous brands.

Anderson has not indicated which flooring lines are affected by the stoppage; however, Melmart wrote in its memorandum that the following lines are not manufactured using prison labor and are, therefore, still available in Canada: Brevard; Bryson/Smoky Mountain; Casitablanca; Coastal Range; Jack's Creek/Eagleton; Southern Vista; Urban Pioneer.

Under Canada Border Services Agency's (CBSA) Memorandum D9-1-6, "Goods Manufactured or Produced Wholly or in Part by Prison Labour," the importation of goods manufactured or produced wholly or in part by prison labor is prohibited. Read more here.

Is the Trans Pacific Partnership a Re-writing of NAFTA?

(Peter Clark – iPolitics)

When Prime Minister Noda announced that Japan intended to join the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations, a grim reality set in. Canada knew it needed to be at the table. This was decided even before President Obama invited Prime Minister Harper to join at the APEC Summit last November.

Canada cannot allow Japan, its fourth most important merchandise export market, to become another Korea, with the US inside the tent enjoying discriminatory preferences and eroding Canada’s market position.

Canada exports a lot of resources and raw materials to Japan. It is also an important market for Canada’s farmers and ranchers. In 2010, Japan accounted for 21.6% of Canada’s meat exports. Read more here.

March Meeting Should Shed Light on TPP Fate

(Sneh Duggal – Embassy)

Canada’s acceptance into the Trans-Pacific Partnership is not guaranteed but the government will likely have a better sense of whether it will be able to join the trade club in March, say trade analysts and observers.

That’s when the nine current TPP member countries meet in Australia for the next round of free-trade talks.

Last November, after years of downplaying Canada’s interest in the agreement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper changed course and surprised many with his sudden announcement that Canada was interested in joining the TPP. Now the government is on a mission to gain entry into the TPP.

“I think it’s unlikely that Canada will be at the March negotiations, but I think it’s reasonable for Canada to expect some feedback after that meeting on Canada’s status with the TPP,” said Yuen Pau Woo, president of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Japan and Mexico have also expressed interest in joining the talks.

Read more here.

Canadian International Trade Tribunal Initiates an Inquiry: Potassium Silicate Solids From Pakistan

(CITT via Marketwire)

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal today initiated a preliminary injury inquiry into a complaint by National Silicates Partnership, of Etobicoke, Ontario, that it has suffered injury as a result of the dumping and subsidizing of potassium silicate solids from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The Tribunal’s inquiry is conducted pursuant to the Special Import Measures Act as a result of the initiation of dumping and subsidizing investigations by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

On March 6, 2012, the Tribunal will determine whether there is a reasonable indication that the alleged dumping and subsidizing have injured the domestic industry. If so, the CBSA will continue its investigations and, by April 5, 2012, will issue preliminary determinations. If these preliminary determinations indicate that there has been dumping or subsidizing, the CBSA will then continue its investigations and, concurrently, the Tribunal will initiate a final injury inquiry. Anti-dumping or countervailing duties will be imposed only if the Tribunal finds that dumped or subsidized products are injuring or threatening to injure the Canadian producers.