CIFFA Forwarder Spring 2025

31 THE FORWARDER | SPRING 2025 CIFFA’s national committees meet several times a year to discuss relevant issues or developments that may affect member companies. Following is a look at what committee members discussed and decided at their most-recent meetings. Airfreight Committee – Chair Bill Gottlieb • Transport Canada’s Pre-load Air Cargo Targeting (PACT) Program will go into effect on April 1. Transport Canada and CBSA are in early-stage discussions about enabling single filing to PACT and CARM. If the decision is made to move forward with single filing, the process is likely to take years to complete. • The committee asked CIFFA to request an update from Transport Canada on progress related to export cargo screening. • CIFFA has asked CBSA to provide information on the correct process when cargo arrives in Canada unmanifested and without the prior knowledge of the forwarder. CBSA said at the end of December that it would provide that information, but has not, even after three reminders from CIFFA. Forwarders have been receiving penalties for infractions related to this process. CIFFA will ask CBSA to discontinue issuing such penalties until it provides information on the proper process. • IATA invited CIFFA to join a working group to review financial criteria for intermediaries in Canada. Between 2015 and 2024, statistics show that US$192,000 was unrecovered from CASS agents, i.e., about $19,000 per year. CASS turnover has always exceeded $250 million a year. As a percentage of that total, the unrecoverable funds average about 0.008 percent each year. From CIFFA’s point of view, CASS is a good billing and payment platform. It does not guarantee payment; it is the responsibility of the airlines to determine the creditworthiness of their customers. As with any business transaction, there is a risk of default. In the U.S., because of anti-trust regulations, the airlines vet all customers and decide if they want to accept the financial risk of taking a particular customer’s cargo. The same should be true in Canada. • For the Canadian Air Cargo Program Joint Council meeting on March 13, CIFFA asked IATA to add to the agenda discussion of the monthly fee to receive CASS Excel-format data . A year’s worth of this fee is more than double the IATA membership dues. Further, IATA is charging the fee for each branch office. Customs Committee – Chair Paul Courtney • Punitive AMPS penalties are having repercussions. One CIFFA member company applied for a sufferance warehouse licence and was rejected because of penalties that applied to well under 1% of its shipments by volume. The company had put preventative measures in place after receiving penalties and had not had a penalty in the last two years. CIFFA was involved in helping the company respond to the CBSA; a response had not yet been received at the time of the committee meeting. • Another member company received a warning from the CBSA for a description of a pharmaceutical that the officer considered insufficient because it did not include how the drug is administered and what it is used for. CIFFA will discuss with CBSA their specific requirements for descriptions of pharmaceuticals. • The committee is concerned that U.S. tariffs could cause delays for cargo being exported to the U.S. With enormous increases in duties owing, brokers wouldn’t be able to cover those expenses in advance on behalf of their clients; exporters would have to make those payments directly and might require U.S. bank accounts to enable that. Exporters are not prepared to meet that requirement. CIFFA Committee Meetings March 2025