The importance of Compliance

This morning, I was at the CSCB (Canadian Society of Customs Brokers) BC Regional Annual Conference.

CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) - Customs - talked about the quality of trade data - or the data that Importers and Customs Brokers transmit to Canada Customs. They feel that there is a very low level of compliance with regards to origin, tariff classification, value for duty and end use of goods.

They have done some studies and found that there has been a 'high level' of non compliance.

This really disturbs me. We spend a great deal of time and effort to make sure that the information for our clients shipments is very accurate. Almost to a fault. Some of our clients complain about the amount of calls or information requests they get. On the other hand, some of our clients have been audited and have been very happy with the results.

Customs is working on audits for importers who are not compliant. I suppose our extra efforts are appreciated by some clients, and may never be truly appreciated until they are audited.