OTTAWA — The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced yesterday that Canada and the United States have increased and harmonized the value thresholds for expedited customs clearance to CDN$2,500 and USD$2,500. This is an increase from the current levels of CDN$1,600 and USD$2,000 for the United States.

Canada has also increased the low-value shipment threshold to CDN$2,500 for exemption from North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Certificate of Origin requirements, aligning it with the current threshold of the U.S.

"The harmonization of the value thresholds for customs clearance for both Canada and the United States will facilitate and expedite trade between our countries, allowing customs to focus on maintaining a secure and efficient border, " said the Honourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety. "Reducing the administrative burden will improve Canada's competitiveness, especially for our small businesses, which are the backbone of the Canadian economy."

The move is part of the Beyond the Border Action Plan, which, amoung other things, hopes to promote supply chain connectivity by harmonizing low-value shipment processes to expedite customs administration.

"Increasing and harmonizing these thresholds will allow an additional 1.5 million shipments to be cleared on the day of arrival, instead of these goods being held up in customs clearance," said Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway.

"Canadian and U.S. businesses are the true beneficiaries of the Beyond the Border Action Plan and the change implemented today," said Mike Tierney, president, UPS Canada. "Each day, more than $1.6 billion worth of goods cross our common border bringing the annual value of traded goods to more than $580 billion. Yet, every year $16 billion in trade activity has been lost due to border delays. This change will allow for swifter movement of goods for importers and exporters of all sizes."