Your Guide to the Courier Low-Value Shipment ProgramIf you’ve ever had a package delivered to you and received an invoice from your customs broker several days or weeks later, you’ve likely been a participant in the Courier Low-Value Shipment program. This is a program whereby CBSA allows participating courier companies to deliver goods valued at $3,300 CAD or less to be delivered to the recipients in Canada before the customs declaration has been submitted, and then process the customs clearance after the fact.
The CLVS program keeps goods flowing over the border efficiently and prevents backlogs of small parcels. Participants include many large couriers such as FedEx, DHL and UPS. Exporters are not required to do anything specific to take advantage of the program; when goods are tendered to the courier, they will automatically be delivered through the CLVS program if the declared value is under the price threshold.
Some goods are not eligible to participate in the CLVS program: generally, goods that are subject to additional regulations, especially from government agencies other than CBSA, are not able to be released through the CLVS program. For example, food imports are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and medical devices are regulated by Health Canada. Therefore, shipments containing food or medical devices, even if they are under $3,300 CAD, will usually have to enter Canada by the normal method in which the customs declaration is submitted and goods are accounted for prior to release.
Once goods have been delivered, if the importer has provided their customs broker’s information to the courier, the courier will send the documentation to that broker for clearance. CLVS entries must be submitted to customs before the 24th day of the month after the month in which they were delivered. For example, if a CLVS package is delivered to you any time in January, the customs entry is due on February 24th. Usually, the customs entry is still done shortly after the goods are delivered, but sometimes it’s possible that you could receive a bill for customs charges several weeks after delivery.
Goods that qualify for preferential trade agreements do not need to have a certificate of origin if they enter through the CLVS program.
Often large courier companies have in-house customs brokerage teams, so if they are not given a customs broker’s name for a shipment they will do the brokerage themselves and present the consignee with a bill when the goods are delivered. If you want to avoid that, you can make sure the courier knows that you have your own customs broker. You’ll be given the chance to provide a broker’s name and contact information when the shipment is booked.
The CLVS program helps regulate the flow of low-value goods into Canada to keep things running smoothly, but it can also result in some surprise charges for importers. To make sure your customs clearances are always processed by the broker of your choice, and to avoid unexpected bills from couriers, talk to your customs broker about how to get the most out of the Courier Low-Value Shipment program.
By Robin Smith, M.A., CCS. – Robin is a trade industry professional based in Victoria, BC.
If you’ve ever had a package delivered to you and received an invoice from your customs broker several days or weeks later, you’ve likely been a participant in the Courier Low-Value Shipment program. This is a program whereby CBSA allows participating courier companies to deliver goods valued at $3,300 CAD or less to be delivered to the recipients in Canada before the customs declaration has been submitted, and then process the customs clearance after the fact.
The CLVS program keeps goods flowing over the border efficiently and prevents backlogs of small parcels. Participants include many large couriers such as FedEx, DHL and UPS. Exporters are not required to do anything specific to take advantage of the program; when goods are tendered to the courier, they will automatically be delivered through the CLVS program if the declared value is under the price threshold.
Some goods are not eligible to participate in the CLVS program: generally, goods that are subject to additional regulations, especially from government agencies other than CBSA, are not able to be released through the CLVS program. For example, food imports are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and medical devices are regulated by Health Canada. Therefore, shipments containing food or medical devices, even if they are under $3,300 CAD, will usually have to enter Canada by the normal method in which the customs declaration is submitted and goods are accounted for prior to release.
Once goods have been delivered, if the importer has provided their customs broker’s information to the courier, the courier will send the documentation to that broker for clearance. CLVS entries must be submitted to customs before the 24th day of the month after the month in which they were delivered. For example, if a CLVS package is delivered to you any time in January, the customs entry is due on February 24th. Usually, the customs entry is still done shortly after the goods are delivered, but sometimes it’s possible that you could receive a bill for customs charges several weeks after delivery.
Goods that qualify for preferential trade agreements do not need to have a certificate of origin if they enter through the CLVS program.
Often large courier companies have in-house customs brokerage teams, so if they are not given a customs broker’s name for a shipment they will do the brokerage themselves and present the consignee with a bill when the goods are delivered. If you want to avoid that, you can make sure the courier knows that you have your own customs broker. You’ll be given the chance to provide a broker’s name and contact information when the shipment is booked.
The CLVS program helps regulate the flow of low-value goods into Canada to keep things running smoothly, but it can also result in some surprise charges for importers. To make sure your customs clearances are always processed by the broker of your choice, and to avoid unexpected bills from couriers, talk to your customs broker about how to get the most out of the Courier Low-Value Shipment program.
By Robin Smith, M.A., CCS. – Robin is a trade industry professional based in Victoria, BC.
