The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) gave a status report on Friday, April 19, about the upcoming digital program, CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM), which aims to simplify the process of collecting customs and taxes on items imported into Canada.
As scheduled, on May 13, CARM will go live internally within the CBSA to further the Agency's compliance and enforcement initiatives. However, the CBSA intends to defer the launch for trade chain partners until October 2024 due to the Public Service Alliance of Canada's ongoing strike vote activity and the potential effects on the Agency's operations in the case of a positive strike vote. By doing this, the Agency will be able to assist partners when they begin utilising CARM. Trade chain partners will therefore carry on as usual until the fall.
CARM is prepared for launch. On the other hand, the effectiveness of CARM implementation depends on the backing of CBSA personnel. The Agency is preparing industry partners for success by delaying its introduction. Owing to the connections between CARM and more business mainframe systems in the Canada Revenue Agency and the CBSA, October 2024 is the next planned window for significant IT upgrades.
About 160 direct engagement events, about 100 consultation and technical working group sessions, and several testing cycles—including a more than 10-month simulation in which industry and CBSA personnel actively participated—have all been accomplished by CBSA. With over 71,500 importers currently registered in CARM—representing over 92% of the number of goods imported—the industry has strived to be prepared.
Apart from safeguarding and expanding Canada's $40 billion annual income, CARM will yield several additional advantages:
• Get rid of laborious, time-consuming paper-based procedures.
• Make improvements to the tools available so that the CBSA can concentrate its enforcement and compliance efforts on possible troublemakers.
• Give importers more capability by enabling them to sign up for commercial programs, send accounting paperwork, and get alerts via their CARM Client Portal account.
Commencing on May 13, the CBSA will initiate an internal rollout of CARM, which will facilitate the Agency's progress towards the anticipated advantage of enhanced compliance. To collaborate with the industry in these domains, the CBSA will employ CARM to find mistakes and inconsistencies in duties and tax filings. These initiatives are in response to research conducted by the Canadian Auditor General, who calculated that up to 20% of goods entering the country were incorrectly classified, resulting in a lower duty payment.