On April 19th, the CBSA released the below announcement that the reschedule of the Release 2 CARM Portal go-live launch for trade partners such as yourself, will now be in October 2024.

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2024/04/cbsa-phasing-in-carm-launching-internally-for-cbsa-use-as-planned-in-may-and-later-in-the-fall-for-trade-chain-partners0.html

What is CARM?

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) project is a multi-year initiative that will transform the collection of duties and taxes for goods imported into Canada. Through CARM, the CBSA will modernize and streamline the process of importing commercial goods by offering online self-service tools to help the trade community do business in Canada.

CARM Timelines

The implementation of CARM is structured in a series of releases.

CARM Release 1 – Basic Functions & Client Portal Onboarding – May 25, 2021:

With this Release, CBSA introduced and launched the CARM Client Portal, a self-service tool that will facilitate accounting and revenue management processes with the CBSA.

The CARM Client Portal is available to importers and brokers, as well as trade consultants who currently submit rulings on behalf of importers. Those who have onboarded to the portal are able to view their transactions and statements of account, request a ruling and pay invoices with new electronic payment options.

CARM Release 2 – May 2023 or October 2023 (TBD):

Release 2 will expand the functionalities of the CARM Client Portal by adding:

• electronic commercial accounting declarations with ability for corrections and adjustments
• new requirements related to the Release Prior to Payment (RPP) program
• harmonized billing cycles
• new offsetting options
• electronic management of appeals and compliance actions

The CBSA will replace the current B3 (customs coding form) and B2 (adjustment request) forms and related processes with a new electronic declaration form, called the Commercial Accounting Declaration (CAD). Changes to the billing cycle will be introduced to harmonize the payment due dates for all transactions and simplify the ways account information can be corrected and adjusted. In addition, changes to the Release Prior to Payment Program will be introduced whereby importers interested in participating in the program will be asked to post financial security directly, with various online options.

NEXT STEPS – WHAT DO YOU NEED TO DO?

1. Obtain a Business Number and program account identifier (RM number)
2. Register for the CARM Client Portal by creating an Individual User CARM Client Portal Account (Follow the step-by-step instructions to get set up on the CARM Client Portal)
3. Link User Account with Business Account
4. Grant Access to Employees, Representatives, and Broker (Follow the step-by-step instructions to delegate authority to CrossBorder Solutions Inc.)
5. Have/obtain a Release Prior to Payment (RPP) Importer Security Bond

Why is it important to register?

• It’s important to register early to ensure there are no disruptions to your Import activity (this will not happen in Release 1 – but if you aren’t registered you will experience delays once Release 2 opens)
• To become familiar and comfortable with using the portal
• To ensure you have the correct parties as delegated authorities

Features & Functions of CARM

• Importers will be required to self-manage access to their profile in the secure CCP site by delegating authority to their employees, customs broker/s, or other service providers.
• Importers will be responsible for making payments of duties and taxes directly to CBSA via electronic funds transfer (EFT), electronic data interchange (EDI) payment, credit card, online debit, or pre-authorized debit (PAD). CBSA will be phasing out payment by cash or cheque.
• Statement of Account, Daily Notices and basic client transaction information are available on the CARM Client Portal.
• Ability to request rulings.
• A self-help tool to assist importers with identifying the associated duties and taxes payable based on a 10-digit Harmonized System Tariff (HS) code for their product.

Key Benefits of CARM

Once fully implemented, CARM will:

• simplify the overall importing process
• provide a modern interface for importing into Canada
• give importers self-service access to their information
• reduce the cost of importing into Canada
• facilitates and improves consistency of compliance with trade rules

CARM Resources

• CBSA CARM Client Support – Click Here
• CBSA CARM Client Portal Onboarding Documentation – Click Here