TORONTO–The introduction of monetary penalties for ACI AMPS has been an ongoing compliance issue for cross-border carriers over the last several months. Most recently, carriers have been challenged by system outages and substantial monetary AMPS penalties associated with the filing of ACI data.

This led to discussions between the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) and Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) regarding the fairness of the penalties.

As a result, CBSA has agreed to review all AMPs penalties associated with system outages. The penalties being reviewed are ones that occurred on the shoulder period of one hour before an outage occurred and two hours following the correction of the outage.

If CBSA believes that an AMPS penalty was issued unfairly to a carrier during an outage period, the penalty will be refunded. CTA has been told that refunds are already flowing back to the industry with the possibility of more to follow in the coming weeks.

CTA will also be working with CBSA over the next six months on reviewing the issues surrounding AMPs compliance and system outages. We will search for solutions and mitigation strategies that work for both industry and government.

“CTA appreciates this constructive approach by CBSA in reviewing previously-issued AMPS penalties and working with our members to develop a compliance regime that respects the needs of CBSA and the trucking industry,” said CTA’s Lak Shoan.

Carriers interested in learning more about the AMPS review system should contact their local association for more information.