CTA wants thoughts on AMPS penalty system

TORONTO, ON – The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) along with the Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) have been working together to put Advanced Commercial Information (ACI) requirements in place, and most recently they’ve been looking at ways to better administer the enforcement of Advanced Monetary Penalties (AMPS).

The CTA is asking carriers to participate in an AMPS penalty survey that will add context to the issues around AMPS penalties. The survey will capture a fleet’s size, exposure to the border, ACI compliance rate and the number of AMPS penalties received in 2017. Participant info will remain anonymous.

The AMPS regime was implemented in 2015 with the second phase of Advanced Commercial Information (ACI) compliance. Under AMPS, penalties are issued to companies that do not meet Canadian Border Service Agencies ACI reporting requirements.

Last year, the CBSA with the help of the CTA introduced numerous AMPS mitigation policies, like the capping of penalty amounts. The policies were implemented to recognize the transition process fleets faced while adjusting to the new processes, and that supply chain and government require time to adjust their processes.

This year, the CBSA has removed nearly all forms of mitigation and have begun to fully enforce AMPS, returning to a graduated AMPS penalty system. This has the CTA concerned.

According to the CTA, some carriers with very high ACI compliance rates have reported thousands of dollars in AMPS penalties since the start of the year.

The CTA wants CBSA to develop a system based on volumetrics, where the frequency of border crossings and high compliance rates must be a factor when issuing AMPS penalties. While the CBSA hasn’t rejected the idea of such a system, there are barriers when it comes to introducing it.

At the end of the month, the CTA will review alternative policy options for the CBSA to consider, like the possibility of turning trucks around for AMPS violations, which can lead to $2,000 or more in fines, an approach often used by US Customs Border Protection when encountering a truck with paperwork issues.

The CTA is asking carriers to get involved and fill out the AMPS survey here.


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