If you are having problems with eManifest, you are not alone. The entire shipping community is struggling with this implementation!
CBSA has recently announced that they will begin a phased implementation of Penalties for eManifest filing violations. The penalty period will begin on July 4, 2021. eManifest penalties are called AMPS, which is short for Administrative Monetary Penalty System.
CBSA has issued internal instructions to officers at each port. Local CBSA officers will initiate the penalty letters and each one will be reviewed by CBSA headquarters, before being mailed to the violator.
The phased penalty assessment approach matches the process that was used when CBSA began the penalty phase with the highway carrier AMPS implementation in 2017. At that time, the CBSA worked with each carrier before issuing penalties. The goal was to educate the filers. It is expected that CBSA will do the same beginning in July.
Many problems are related to warehouse/sublocation codes and delivery instructions. How does a user find the correct sublocation code to use?
- Trade Tech is adding the ocean carrier sublocation codes into our sailing schedules (going live in 2 weeks),
- Bring your destination agents into the process – they can add the sublocation code and may be more familiar with operations in Canada. Trade Tech can create logins for them; do not share your login with your agents as it creates a security issue,
- Copy a previous shipment that was successful, and you will have the correct sublocation code automatically (this is particularly effective for consolidations where the CFS station / deconsolidation station does not change, regardless of which ocean carrier is used.
Be careful about which deconsolidation you choose to do business with. Many of the deconsolidation warehouses in Canada are not electronically connected to CBSA. This has caused a lot of problems for our customers. Please have your destination agent confirm that their deconsolidation warehouse is electronically connected for eManifest with CBSA and can receive an electronic D4 message. If not, you will probably be in trouble sooner, rather than later. We highly recommend choosing a deconsolidation warehouse that is electronically connected to CBSA for eManifest based upon all of the issues experienced by our customers.
Train staff members. Reach out to Trade Tech for help with training. Bring staff or agents in Canada into the process. There is little time left before the AMPS penalties begin. Now is the time to focus on eManifest. Trade Tech can help.
