OTTAWA, Ont. — In what the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) is calling ‘better late than never,’ the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) will again delay implementation of its new penalty regime to Oct. 7.

With this announcement — which marks a major customs policy victory for the CTA and more significantly, for Canadian carriers — CCRA acknowledged that a transition period of at least one-year would be needed before the agency could adopt the Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS).

The extension of the grace period will save carriers thousands of dollars in potential penalties and help them equip themselves to deal with the new rules. Originally scheduled to kick-in last October to coincide with the implementation of the Customs Self-Assessment (CSA) program, AMPS has raised concerns with the CTA that it could become highly punitive for carriers, especially in the event it was introduced without an appropriate transition period.