OTTAWA, Ont. – Canada Customs has abandoned plans to mandate an estimated time of arrival of goods at a Customs office of release, following concerns that the times could not be accurate enough to be useful as part of the release process.

“The ETA is, well, only estimated,” says Mark Laramore of the Release and Warehouse Programs, Import Process Division, referring to concerns that had been expressed by carriers. “We could have been told it would be there at 4 p.m., but very well, at 4 today, the truck could still have been in the U.S.”

The policy, which had been scheduled to begin on July 30 (Customs Notice N-265), was indefinitely postponed April 14.

The policy dealt with the submission of the Release on Minimum Documentation (RMD) or an arrival notification from the sufferance warehouse operator that links to the Pre-Arrival Review System information that had already been submitted by an importer or broker.

Instead of introducing a mandatory ETA, Customs is only requiring it for loads shipped through PARS with arrival certification by the carrier or sufferance warehouse operator; or pre-arrival RMD and cargo data transmitted electronically by the carrier. Customs will then be able to verify the status of cargo for RMDs in the ACROSS system used in the marine and rail industries.

New timeframe policies are outlined in Customs Notice N-265. n