Archive for the ‘Carrier’ Category

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The Value of Partners in Protection (PIP) & C-TPAT Memberships

Partners in ProtectionInterested in spending more time on shipping and less on border delays? In the age of global trading, your reputation as a company will be focused on security practices and getting your goods across the border with fewer inspections and expedited border clearances.

The recent Partners in Protection (“PIP”) Newsletter confirmed as at January 1, 2012, there were 1,449 PIP Members in Canada. With the recent announcements with the U.S. for a “shared vision for perimeter security”, PIP has also confirmed that 78% of all PIP Members are already C-TPAT (Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism) Certified as well.

Is it necessary? For some, yes! PIP Membership is a necessity for eligibility into certain programs. As a PIP Member you are committed to supply chain security, and the benefits include:

  • Eligibility to apply to the FAST Program;
  • Eligibility to the Low Value Shipment Program;
  • Enhanced reputation as being a low-risk company;
  • Fewer border delays; and
  • Expedited clearances

As the United States and Canada have agreed to a shared vision for perimeter security, we can expect that perimeter security to slowly become more harmonized.

What does that mean exactly? To start, an initiative has been announced for the C-TPAT and PIP Programs. Other programs will become more integrated such as the Trusted Trader Program and Partners in Compliance (under the Customs Self Assessment).

Of the 1,449 PIP Members in Canada, 62% of those are highway carriers. The benefits of expedited border clearances and fewer inspections combined with the enhanced reputation can provide you with a competitive advantage, as well as position your organization to be internationally recognized.

Pacific Customs Brokers is pleased to provide a PIP and C-TPAT informative seminar on March 29, 2012, which will provide you with details about the applications and the membership processes. The seminar information and registration will be posted shortly on the Trade Compliance Seminar Schedule.

Posted on February 21st, 2012 by Jenny Hubbard
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Posted in Canada Customs, Carrier, Your Broker Knows

Crossing the Border with a Multi-Load Shipment?

Red truckIn a situation where a commodity is invoiced as a single transaction and it is an oversize shipment such as: a large building and or machinery that cannot physically be moved on one truck,  Canada Border Services Agency has a provision to handle multi-load moves with one invoice value. The industry terminology for this type of special entry is a Prime and Entered to Arrive (ETA) entry. In these cases, the entire quantity of goods will be accounted for when the first shipment arrives, and the remainder will be processed as paper release package for each load to follow.

This means drivers carrying any parts or components for goods previously accounted for on one invoice will need to clear Customs against the original declaration previously provided to CBSA at the same port of entry as approved.

Carrier documentation requirements:

Each driver should then have a bill of lading and a packing list indicating all goods on board. These documents should be noted with a specific reference number being used to identify the original entry. Common examples would be the serial#, Unit#, VIN#, PO#, Shippers# or any other number that is unique to the complete commodity.

In addition, the driver should note which load number  they are of the total number of trucks needed to complete the delivery. For example:  load 3 of 12.

Next step is to notify the customs broker of your intent to cross the border. Indicate the PORT (which can only be the CBSA port listed on the CBSA approval form), estimated time of arrival (ETA) and phone number for the driver in the event the driver needs to be reached. If a cargo control number (CCN) has not been provided, please ensure that the driver is aware of the carriers “carrier code”, as a manifest will be required upon arrival. Charges to generate a cargo control number/barcode for the driver may apply if not previously provided.

Do you have components on board for more than one prime entry OR extra parts not for a prime entry?

If so, the driver will need to generate a SEPARATE bill of lading (BOL), separate packing list & separate CCN for each list of items that will be specific to each prime entry.

Extra parts shipped with an ETA load that are not a part of an original transaction will also require a separate BOL, packing list, Canada Customs or commercial invoice indicating all information required for Customs & separate CCN.

Comments:

Please note that drivers generally will not be provided any “invoices” for their load because the master invoice for the complete transaction would have already been declared to CBSA  More than likely, the driver will have a packing list, BOL, indication of what unit they have parts for, load# & CCN#. If the drivers have parts for more than one unit, they need to provide a separate list. For more information on this blog, please feel free to contact the carrier help desk at 855.542.6644 or email carrierhelpdesk@pcb.ca.

 

Posted on February 8th, 2012 by Cherie Storms
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Posted in Canada Customs, Carrier, Transportation, Your Broker Knows

BorderPro iPhone App – How to Use SMS and Email Subscriptions

BorderPro iPhone app SMS screenshot

Border Pro for Carriers powered by Pacific Customs Brokers, introduces a number of new features which leverages technology developed to support the BorderPro iPhone app. A not so obvious feature – is the addition of short message service (SMS) and email subscriptions to PARS and SCN shipment entries.

Email and SMS subscriptions are now offered on both our website based PARS and SCN tracking pages, as well as our iPhone application. At the time of submitting your PARS or SCN number,  the user can also provide a valid email or SMS/mobile number. We will then confirm/validate that your PARS or SCN number is valid and then subscribe you to that tracking number. You will receive a subscription confirmation by SMS or email as well as an email or SMS for every status change to the point of release. Using this you can search once, subscribe and be notified as your shipment is prepared and released. This can also allow your dispatch office to enter the tracking number on behalf of trucks en-route and providing the drivers SMS or email address for receiving updates. Invalid entries will not be subscribed for reasons such as; the number does not match in our system. This may be because Pacific Customs Brokers is not the designated customs broker associated to the shipment or simply human error and the number was entered incorrectly.

Be sure to give this a try on your next SCN or PARS lookup, submit once – add your preferred method of getting tracking updates and you will be notified on all status changes for that given shipment. For more information, please visit our BorderPro for Carriers web pages or contact our carrier help desk for assistance with this new and exciting feature.

Watch for multi-PARS and SCN support later this year as we continue to develop the back end support for the BorderPro iphone app.

Posted on January 31st, 2012 by Jeff Bourassa
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Posted in Canada Customs, Carrier, Transportation, US Customs, Your Broker Knows

The Road to an iPhone App – BorderPro Launches

Border Pro for iPhone“What do we need an iPhone app for?” Was the question asked when I suggested attending an iPhone Developer Course in the 2011. After some convincing, I registered and flew to Atlanta, Georgia to attend the course. A year later, Pacific Customs Brokers releases ‘BorderPro’ iPhone application v1.

As the General Manager of Information Technology for Pacific Customs Brokers, it was obvious from the beginning, Pacific’s commitment to technology. In the early 1990’s, Pacific’s primary focus was to be established on the internet, with email services and websites. Shortly after, we developed a PDF document system (www.formlink.com) that allowed our clients to submit customs documentation directly through an online forms system, which is still used by many of our clients today for both U.S. and Canadian documentation. Almost 20 years later the technology landscape is quite different.  The focus now is on services and website users expect more than just marketing material. The reach of internet is everywhere and smartphones, iPhones and iPads are now commonplace. Mobiles are becoming the platform (some might argue it has already became the platform) and Pacific Customs Brokers recognizes the need for an iPhone Application for carriers.

The concept was a fairly simple one, create an iPhone app that exposes our PARS and SCN tracking lookups.  Our existing website based tracking is heavily used by many carriers servicing our clients for tracking the release status of shipments. Our development focus over the past 10 years has been on web-based solutions.  Developing an iPhone app required a change in our development process, a change in technology and a re-tooling of our backend web-services to leverage the iPhone platform.  An iPhone application is quite different from the fluid nature of developing website based applications.  With a website we can tweak on the fly, make changes, test and fix. The iPhone development is much more stringent – it is about getting it right before it is released.  For us this meant rethinking our design process, our marketing process and our development process from the ground up.

The ‘BorderPro’ iPhone app is a first for Pacific Customs Brokers, and a first in North America for a purpose built customs brokerage tracking application.  It provides direct lookups for both PARS and SCN entries into our backend systems – giving the end user real-time clearance status updates.  It also provides the end user the ability to subscribe to a SCN or PARS tracking feed and receive SMS/Text messages with up to date tracking changes for any number of PARS or SCN numbers.  Any client can easily track and get tracking updates from any iPhone anywhere, anytime of the day or night.

The BorderPro iPhone app is the result of close to a year of planning, testing, design, and learning and is clearly a stepping stone into the future for Pacific Customs Brokers.  Our IT team has plans for the next version of our iPhone app that will add new features and functionality to this platform making it even more useful to our customers, clients and partners.

During that time, Pacific has taken many twists and turns, but always committed to technology.

Learn more about the BorderPro iPhone app »

 

Posted on January 24th, 2012 by Jeff Bourassa
Tags: ,
Posted in Canada Customs, Carrier, Transportation, US Customs

Top 10 Reasons Why a Carrier Would Have to See a Customs Broker

Red truckA driver’s cross border journey is so much more than picking up freight and proceeding with delivery. Crossing international borders, especially with commercial freight, means complying with the rules of the governing country.

There are many aspects for the carrier to consider when planning their journey: transportation permits, routes, road conditions, hours and what customs requirements apply to the goods on board.

While most entries must be transmitted to the CBSA electronically for review, there are a number of exceptions to this rule. Here is a list of those exceptions to help give you a better understanding of some of the reasons you or your driver may have to stop your journey along the way:

  • Invoice lines in excess of 250 lines – When an invoice covers a large number of purchased goods, it can take a customs broker quite some time to key it line by line. This is why customs has allowed entries exceeding 250 lines to be presented as a paper entry to help expedite the clearance process.
  • Multiple Highway Cargo Control Numbers at Frontier
  • Courier Low Value Shipment rejected from consist
  • Other government department permit or certificate required – There are certain goods that cannot be released electronically because they require a permit, certificate or license to be presented to CBSA. An example of this would be vehicles that require Form 1 or fire arms that require a special permit.
  • System outage (ie. customs broker, CBSA or CFIA)
  • Shortages, Entered to Arrive, Value Included – These goods are reported when the quantity of goods originally reported to the CBSA is different from that received by the importer or broker.
  • Provisional – When the importer/owner or broker cannot establish a final value for duty of goods at the time of importation. In such cases, goods may be released under the interim accounting provisions.
  • Prime & ETAs – When an item is too large to fit on one truck and transportation of the goods will be split up onto a number of trucks.
  • Used self propelled vehicles – Goods that require US customs authorization to export before they will be CBSA released.
  • Used machinery requiring inspection – Goods that may have soil or dirt present must be inspected to ensure that the proper cleaning precautions have been taken.

In any of the above cases, the customs broker will instruct you or your driver to come into their office to collect a paper package, which they will have prepared in advance.  After obtaining instruction from the customs broker, you will proceed to the customs booth and advise the border service officer (BSO) that you need to see your customs broker. The border service officer will instruct you where to park while you take care of your documentation.

Once you’ve visited the customs broker and have obtained the paper package, those documents need to be presented to CBSA for their release decision. If release has been granted, Customs will stamp your paperwork released and you may then proceed with final delivery.

Do your due diligence and always ensure that your entries are good to go before proceeding to the border. By doing this, it gives you and the customs broker an opportunity to communicate any special instructions to each other.

 

 

Posted on January 9th, 2012 by Sonia Stanton
Posted in Canada Customs, Carrier, Your Broker Knows

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