Complying with eManifest

Canada is committed to improving security and facilitating the movement of legitimate cross-border travellers and trade. Requirements under the eManifest initiative will be mandatory.

To help businesses comply with eManifest, the CBSA:

• will deploy eManifest over a number of years;
• has been working and will continue to work closely with industry stakeholders to obtain their input on the design and implementation of eManifest through consultation processes such as the eManifest Stakeholder Partnership Network (eSPN);
• is developing an eManifest Portal as a service option to facilitate compliance and make the transition from paper to electronic reporting more manageable for small- and medium-sized enterprises;
• is developing support mechanisms to assist businesses with the implementation of, and compliance with, eManifest;
• has been updating trade partners and external stakeholders on important information through eSPN working groups and committees, publications such as customs notices, the CBSA Web site and other communications activities and products; and
• has reviewed lessons learned from previous phases of the Advance Commercial Information (ACI) program and from U.S. Customs and Border Protection's (CBP) Automated Commercial Environment program.

Non-Compliance with eManifest Requirements

If businesses do not submit required data within the pre-arrival time frames, they could experience delays of shipments/conveyances and/or have an administrative monetary penalty (AMP) applied.

When applicable, the CBSA will issue penalties under eManifest for:

• providing information that is incomplete, inaccurate or untrue; and
• failing to send the prescribed information within the prescribed time or in the prescribed manner.

Exemptions and Exceptions

eManifest will not apply to all shipments. A list of exemptions and exceptions to eManifest requirements in the highway mode is available in the Electronic Commerce Client Requirements Document (ECCRD) for highway.

The CBSA is currently reviewing potential exemptions and exceptions to the eManifest initiative in other modes and will publish this information as it becomes available.