Wednesday, October 28, 2009

2009-2010 CBSA National Verification Priorities

This is the list of products that customs is focusing on for audits this year 2009-2010

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwEN0WTvY7xgZTE2ZDE0NjAtNzYyYS00MTJlLWE1ZGQtZDA5MjcxNDc0ZDI1&hl=en

For 2009-2010,
14 national priorities for verification so far:

Valuation verification
1. Plastic household goods

Tariff Classification verification
2.Magnesium sulphates
3.Cotton yarn
4.Copper and articles thereof
5.Stone vs. articles of stone
6.Reclaimed rubber
7.Furniture parts
8.Gloves
9.Soap

Origin verification
10. Vegetable fats and oils
11. Articles of bedding and similar furnishings
12. Perfume and toilet water industry
13. Mattress upholstery
14. Electric generators

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Shipping to Canada - the easy way!

View our video on the easy way to ship to Canada -

Saturday, August 22, 2009

We're 30!

On August 22, 1979, Graham and Candy Robins launched A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. It all started in a humble trailer they fixed up and parked on 176th Street in Surrey, BC – just down from the Pacific Highway border crossing - where our head office remains today.

Over the years we have grown ... from that modest little office to multiple branches across Canada and in the US. We found our winning formula – providing extraordinary service – and stuck to it. For three decades we never lost sight of one fact: when our clients are successful, we are successful.

The past year has been a tough one, but we have faced the worst and come out a winner. This has only been possible because of the people of A & A – you are what makes this business tick.

To formally mark our thirtieth anniversary, we are creating a book with Echo Memoirs. It will be an impressive, full-colour chronicle of A & A, its people and our industry. This photo collage is just a teaser of what is to come.

All the best,

Graham Robins Jr.
President
A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd.

"Providing our customers with first class trade facilitation through our passion for service."

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Become a Fan of A & A on Facebook!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

We may be close to crossing that new bridge

We may be close to crossing that new bridge

The following article, by Jeffrey Simpson, is extracted from the 20 June 2009 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Could it be that after so many delays, false starts, political wrangling, engineering studies, competing proposals and plain old-fashioned inertia, a new bridge might soon be under construction between Windsor and Detroit, the busiest border crossing in North America?

Yes, there actually could be a new bridge, believe it or not.

With this project - an estimated $2-billion for the bridge, and more for the access roads on both sides of the border - nothing is ever guaranteed until the final rivet is in place. But on the Canadian side, all the political ducks are finally in line; and on the U.S. side, almost all of them are.

Except that in the U.S., a nation of lawyers, nothing is ever finally settled until the last lawsuit has expired….

The bridge is owned by one of the wealthiest men in the United States, billionaire Manuel (Matty) Moroun of Grosse Pointe. He owns a trucking conglomerate, dispenses political contributions (to 21 candidates in 2008, according to Campaignmoney.com), and keeps lawyers busy by filing lawsuits whenever matters are not going his way.

Which they are not. Mr. Moroun opposes the new bridge proposed by the U.S. and Canadian governments. He insists it will unfairly compete with his Ambassador Bridge, and the new bridge he will build, operate and own adjacent to the existing Ambassador that will eventually be phased out….

Alas for Mr. Moroun, the Department of Homeland Security does not favour his project, fearing terrorists could knock out one bridge, thereby crippling commerce among other losses. Nor does the U.S. Coast Guard favour Mr. Moroun's efforts. It recently ordered preliminary work stopped on his new bridge. Nor does the Democratic delegation in Congress from Michigan, with one exception.

Nor does the mayor of Detroit. Nor does the state government….

Mr. Moroun has just launched a lawsuit, claiming the U.S. government agencies had not followed their own rules in turning him down.

Unless this Hail Mary lawsuit succeeds - and very few people give it a hope - work will start later this year on the Windsor side preparing ground for the access from the 401 highway to the new six-lane bridge….

Many Windsorites wanted a tunnel from the 401 to the bridge, but the cost would have been astronomical. Now, it appears Mayor Francis and Queen's Park have reached an agreement whereby some of the access road will be sunken, although not tunnelled. With that compromise, the last hurdle fell on the Canadian side for a new bridge so long discussed, so long delayed.

The federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada, and the federal, state and local governments on the U.S. side would appear all in agreement, finally, that a new bridge is needed and that it should be the publicly financed one. The Canadian section will likely be built through a public-private partnership….

It almost seems too good to be true: a new bridge by 2015. Hold your breath.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

As of June 30th, 2009 all imported bovinae and non-bovinae pet foods from the United States into Canada require import permits

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/import/permit_covere.shtml

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Worldwide Air Traffic in 24 Hours