Trade Compliance

AMPS (Administrative Monetary Penalty System) is the CBSA penalty program that issues fines to importers for errors and omissions on customs declarations. Penalties start at a few hundred dollars for minor errors and can reach CAD 25,000 per contravention for repeat or serious cases. CanFlow Global defends AMPS penalties by filing appeals, preparing supporting documentation, and in appropriate cases submitting voluntary disclosures before the penalty is issued. We also build compliance programs that reduce future AMPS exposure.

A CBSA voluntary disclosure is a formal mechanism that lets an importer come forward about past compliance errors before CBSA discovers them, in exchange for reduced or waived penalties. It applies to misclassification, undervaluation, missed permits, incorrect origin claims, and similar errors. The key is that the disclosure must be voluntary, complete, and made before any CBSA verification starts on the affected shipments. CanFlow Global reviews your historical imports, identifies errors that warrant disclosure, prepares the submission package, and manages the CBSA correspondence.

CanFlow Global handles permits and clearances from all of the Other Government Departments that intersect with Canadian imports, including CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) for food, plant, and animal products; Health Canada for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and consumer products; NRCan (Natural Resources Canada) for energy efficiency regulations; ECCC (Environment and Climate Change Canada) for hazardous goods and ozone-depleting substances; and Transport Canada for vehicle and aviation imports. We coordinate the OGD permit alongside the CBSA entry so goods release in a single coordinated step.

A CBSA verification is a formal audit of your past customs declarations, usually focused on tariff classification, origin claims, or valuation. CBSA issues a verification letter naming the period under review and the specific issue, and you typically have 30 days to respond with supporting records. Failing to respond or responding with incomplete records leads to reassessment, penalties, and possible loss of program privileges like Release Prior to Payment. CanFlow Global handles verifications end to end, reviewing the scope, pulling the required records, preparing the written response, and negotiating with the CBSA officer if reassessment becomes likely.

Canadian law does not formally require a written compliance program for most importers, but CBSA increasingly expects one during verifications, and programs like the Trusted Trader and Customs Self-Assessment pathway require documented internal controls. A written program also reduces AMPS penalty risk because it demonstrates reasonable care. CanFlow Global builds written compliance programs tailored to each client's import profile, including SOPs, classification decision logs, internal audit cycles, and employee training materials.

Every importer of record in Canada must post financial security directly with CBSA through the CARM Client Portal before using the Release Prior to Payment privilege. The minimum is CAD 25,000 or an amount based on your import volume, and the security can be posted as cash, a surety bond, or a letter of credit. CanFlow Global advises on the right security type for your cash flow situation, connects you with Canadian surety bond providers, and handles the CARM portal steps to upload the security and activate the privilege.