ARTICLE · 13 JULY 2016

How To Apply For An Advance Customs Ruling In Canada

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Many importers in Canada want to minimize the risk of an assessment of customs duties for getting a tariff classification incorrect.

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Cyndee Todgham Cherniak

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Many importers in Canada want to minimize the risk of an assessment of customs duties for getting a tariff classification incorrect. If an importer or exporter or foreign producer of goods cannot figure out how the Canada Border Services Agency ("CBSA") would classify a good for customs duty tariff classification purposes, sometimes the best thing to do is to ask them.

The process by which an importer would request the CBSA's views is by way of an advance tariff classification ruling. An advance tariff classification ruling provides certainty to the importer as to how the CBSA would a classify the good. However, it should be noted that asking the question of the CBSA opens the importer to the possibility receiving an answer with a higher rate of duty – that is, an answer the importer does not like.

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