This isn't info BY ME, but from a very trustworthy CUSTOMS friend (cut and pasted from CGCC, another site I moderate)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Importing of goods into Canada.
When importing goods into Canada, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) must be notified that there are goods coming into Canada. Rules have been established since the founding of Canada to protect Canadian businesses, and its economy, which impose Duties on the goods that are imported.
Through various trade relations (see Tariff Treatment) Canada has entered into agreements with certain countries to lower, or eliminate the Duty from imported and exported goods, that are manufactured in the participating Countries.
Let?s see some real world examples.
I purchase a fully working game from the US, and it ships up via Yellow Freight. I get a call from them letting me know that it has to clear through customs.
Yellow freight, once they have hit the border handed over a manifest of the goods that they are bringing into Canada, and who they are consigned to. This begins CBSA?s tracing and tracking.
The goods move (in bond) to a Yellow freight terminal (say London) awaiting for the consignee to be contacted, and to be cleared.
You drive over to yellow freight, and get a copy of the Manifest, and bring a copy of your Invoice for the cabinet to Customs.
Customs calculates out the Duty (if applicable) and Taxes (GST, PST, yadda yadda).
You pay them, they send an electronic message to Yellow freight, Yellow freight releases the goods, and you go home and are happy.
? Customs will help you every time if you are importing personal goods.
? Customs will help you once if you are importing commercial goods. After that, you either need a broker, or you need to generate the paperwork yourself.
I purchase a module for my Jukebox machine. They agree to ship it UPS to my door.
UPS tracks the package as soon as they pick it up, and notify you to let them know who your broker is.
Since UPS shipments clear at about 50 different crossings between Canada and the US, you *could* clear it yourself, but you would have to have the ability to get to the port where it is clearing, and get a manifest, take it to customs, etc. Not a problem if you live in Windsor, or Hamilton.. but what if it clears in North Portal, Sask?
UPS will clear it on your behalf. If you have *ever* cleared a shipment with UPS, they have your signature on file, authorizing them to clear your goods for every UPS shipment.
UPS charges for this service.
UPS will clear your package, assign Duty/Tax/Gst and pay it to CBSA on your behalf, and then slap a COD tag on your package, and collect it when they deliver it.
DHL, AirMail, and Purolator all work the same way; they usually bill you after the fact though. That is nice, because sometimes they mis-declare goods. I once got sent a teddy bear from the UK (rare) and they cleared it as lingerie. It was listed on the export docs as a ?teddy?.
Air Freight ? it?s a different ballgame.
I shipped a pinball machine from the UK. The airlines have arrangements with warehouses that are authorized to receive freight from airlines while under customs supervision. Since you are not authorized to go on the tarmac and get your freight, you have to pick it up from one of these warehouses.
The warehouse will cut the manifest for the goods. You will be notified that there is freight for you, and you can pick up the manifest at the warehouse, take it over to customs, and the process is the same for all the other shipments.
The catch is.. You have to pay the warehouse a fee for using their warehouse. ($50 - $150). You can?t get around it. And its usually in US Funds. And if you don?t clear the goods in 24 hours, they charge you storage. Fair is fair, you are taking up room in their warehouse, that they can use to make money. This is where a Freight Forwarder comes in. They arrange (for a fee) to have the freight taken to the warehouse, all the paperwork handled, and then the goods reshipped to your door? for a fee.
Ocean Freight ? More Fees.
If you can ever help it.. NEVER EVER EVER ship ocean freight. Since goods are containerized, and customs has a bill back procedure in place for checking ocean freight, it?s like playing Russian roulette.
Customs is now charging the importer, the costs associated with inspecting a container. 1 out of every 1000 or so containers gets inspected. Considering that it costs $1,000- $2,500 to inspect a container, this amount gets billed back to the importer. You can?t fight it. You just have to accept that as normal cost of doing business.
In addition to this possible charge, terminal fees are about $250 US funds. Then you get your manifest, and so on. But you cannot pick up the freight from the dock, you need to arrange with an approved carrier, who can go in and pick up the freight (you guessed it.. for a fee).
This isn?t to deter you from Shipping internationally at all. Just to educate a bit on what to expect.
---
Classifying the goods.
When you go to clear your goods through customs, they will assign the goods an HS number. The HS number is an international system of classifying goods.
Every item in the world can be classified by a 10 digit number. That Book is available at
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publ ... nts-e.html
The Harmonized System is divided into Sections, then Chapters, then Headings, then Subheadings.
Eg:
Pinball Machine. 9504.30.00.19
Is broken down into
95 ? TOYS, GAMES AND SPORTS REQUISITES; PARTS AND ACCESSORIES THEREOF
9504 - Articles for funfair, table or parlour games, including pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling alley equipment.
9504.30.00 -Other games, operated by coins, banknotes (paper currency), discs or other similar articles, other than bowling alley equipmen
- - - - -Games:
11 - - - - - -Video
19 - - - - - -Other
90 - - - - -Parts and accessories
So a pinball machine is
9504.30.00.19
(and if you look closely, you can see that an arcade cabinet would be
9504.30.00.11)
---
Now that you know what the goods are, the HS book also shows us the amount of Duty that is payable. (In this case, it?s duty free). That Duty is based on the Tariff Treatment, or our relation with the country in which it was made.
Items that are MADE IN THE USA, and can be proved, are Duty Free (that whole NAFTA thing).
With personal shipments, a lot of the time customs doesn?t care where it was made, just where it came from. So if you have a PCB made in China, but it shipped from the US, they don?t care as its too much effort to go into the computer and change the Tariff Treatment from 10 (US) to 2 (China).
So, knowing that this pinball machine is duty free, lets see how everything gets calculated out.
Value of Pinball Machine - $1000 USD
Exchange rate at time of shipment ? 1.1725
(The exchange rate is not based on Bank rate, or Visa rate. I don?t think anyone really knows how it gets figured out, but it is always posted at Customs, or online)
Value For Duty $1172.50
(this is the value, of the goods, converted over to Canadian funds)
Duty 0%
Value for Tax (VFD + All Duties) $1172.50
GST (7%) $82.05
PST (8%) 93.80
Total Payable: $175.88
---
There are some conditions that customs puts on for low value goods.
Goods that are under $20 CANADIAN (not US, or EUR, but CANADIAN) where Canadian is defined as the price you paid, times the exchange rate applicable on that date, are allowed in the country Duty free, Tax (PST/GST) exempt.
So if you were to buy a pinball project machine, for $18 USD, it would NOT qualify. But if you bought it for $10 US (X 1.1725 = 17.25 CDN) it would be allowed in Duty Free, and Tax Exempt.
This is why sometimes your UPS shipments don?t have any COD tag on them to collect for duty and taxes, because there is none.
The other catch is Gifts.. Gifts are allowed to a maximum of $60 Canadian. If you receive a gift from someone, customs will deduct $60 off the price of the goods.
9816.00.00.00 - Gifts
So your KI2 for $75 (Canadian) that was a ?gift?, will be assessed duty/ taxes on $15.00 (Canadian)
Does this mean you should undervalue goods, and have that NOS tron cabinet declared at $15.50 to have it come in duty free and tax exempt?
- - -
AMPS ? Applied Monetary Penalty System
Customs has a new zero tolerance policy. Misdeclaring goods imposes a penalty of $1000 for the first offence, $5000 for second, $25,000 for the third. (for commercial), personal, they will assign you a fine, plus double duty and taxes, plus black list you everytime you come over the border you will get pulled over.
This is just the basics of international shipping, and customs. Many more requirements (and this is subject to change as I get around to it)
In a nut shell?
Under $20 ? Duty Free, Tax Exempt.
Items from the US are typically free for non commercial.
GST and PST is paid for non commercial goods.
Under $60 - can be a ?gift?, and be duty free, tax exempt
Don?t piss off Ocean Warehouses, or freight forwarders.
Common HS Numbers
Pinball Machine. 9504.30.00.19
Video Game : 9504.30.00.11
Gifts: 9816.00.00.00
Parts is a whole other topic. When is a Screw, not a Screw? You can?t say that a screw for your pinball machine is a pinball part. A part is something that is specific to the item, so a flipper assembly would be. But a screw for that flipper assembly is still a screw.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Importing of goods into Canada.
When importing goods into Canada, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) must be notified that there are goods coming into Canada. Rules have been established since the founding of Canada to protect Canadian businesses, and its economy, which impose Duties on the goods that are imported.
Through various trade relations (see Tariff Treatment) Canada has entered into agreements with certain countries to lower, or eliminate the Duty from imported and exported goods, that are manufactured in the participating Countries.
Let?s see some real world examples.
I purchase a fully working game from the US, and it ships up via Yellow Freight. I get a call from them letting me know that it has to clear through customs.
Yellow freight, once they have hit the border handed over a manifest of the goods that they are bringing into Canada, and who they are consigned to. This begins CBSA?s tracing and tracking.
The goods move (in bond) to a Yellow freight terminal (say London) awaiting for the consignee to be contacted, and to be cleared.
You drive over to yellow freight, and get a copy of the Manifest, and bring a copy of your Invoice for the cabinet to Customs.
Customs calculates out the Duty (if applicable) and Taxes (GST, PST, yadda yadda).
You pay them, they send an electronic message to Yellow freight, Yellow freight releases the goods, and you go home and are happy.
? Customs will help you every time if you are importing personal goods.
? Customs will help you once if you are importing commercial goods. After that, you either need a broker, or you need to generate the paperwork yourself.
I purchase a module for my Jukebox machine. They agree to ship it UPS to my door.
UPS tracks the package as soon as they pick it up, and notify you to let them know who your broker is.
Since UPS shipments clear at about 50 different crossings between Canada and the US, you *could* clear it yourself, but you would have to have the ability to get to the port where it is clearing, and get a manifest, take it to customs, etc. Not a problem if you live in Windsor, or Hamilton.. but what if it clears in North Portal, Sask?
UPS will clear it on your behalf. If you have *ever* cleared a shipment with UPS, they have your signature on file, authorizing them to clear your goods for every UPS shipment.
UPS charges for this service.
UPS will clear your package, assign Duty/Tax/Gst and pay it to CBSA on your behalf, and then slap a COD tag on your package, and collect it when they deliver it.
DHL, AirMail, and Purolator all work the same way; they usually bill you after the fact though. That is nice, because sometimes they mis-declare goods. I once got sent a teddy bear from the UK (rare) and they cleared it as lingerie. It was listed on the export docs as a ?teddy?.
Air Freight ? it?s a different ballgame.
I shipped a pinball machine from the UK. The airlines have arrangements with warehouses that are authorized to receive freight from airlines while under customs supervision. Since you are not authorized to go on the tarmac and get your freight, you have to pick it up from one of these warehouses.
The warehouse will cut the manifest for the goods. You will be notified that there is freight for you, and you can pick up the manifest at the warehouse, take it over to customs, and the process is the same for all the other shipments.
The catch is.. You have to pay the warehouse a fee for using their warehouse. ($50 - $150). You can?t get around it. And its usually in US Funds. And if you don?t clear the goods in 24 hours, they charge you storage. Fair is fair, you are taking up room in their warehouse, that they can use to make money. This is where a Freight Forwarder comes in. They arrange (for a fee) to have the freight taken to the warehouse, all the paperwork handled, and then the goods reshipped to your door? for a fee.
Ocean Freight ? More Fees.
If you can ever help it.. NEVER EVER EVER ship ocean freight. Since goods are containerized, and customs has a bill back procedure in place for checking ocean freight, it?s like playing Russian roulette.
Customs is now charging the importer, the costs associated with inspecting a container. 1 out of every 1000 or so containers gets inspected. Considering that it costs $1,000- $2,500 to inspect a container, this amount gets billed back to the importer. You can?t fight it. You just have to accept that as normal cost of doing business.
In addition to this possible charge, terminal fees are about $250 US funds. Then you get your manifest, and so on. But you cannot pick up the freight from the dock, you need to arrange with an approved carrier, who can go in and pick up the freight (you guessed it.. for a fee).
This isn?t to deter you from Shipping internationally at all. Just to educate a bit on what to expect.
---
Classifying the goods.
When you go to clear your goods through customs, they will assign the goods an HS number. The HS number is an international system of classifying goods.
Every item in the world can be classified by a 10 digit number. That Book is available at
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/publ ... nts-e.html
The Harmonized System is divided into Sections, then Chapters, then Headings, then Subheadings.
Eg:
Pinball Machine. 9504.30.00.19
Is broken down into
95 ? TOYS, GAMES AND SPORTS REQUISITES; PARTS AND ACCESSORIES THEREOF
9504 - Articles for funfair, table or parlour games, including pintables, billiards, special tables for casino games and automatic bowling alley equipment.
9504.30.00 -Other games, operated by coins, banknotes (paper currency), discs or other similar articles, other than bowling alley equipmen
- - - - -Games:
11 - - - - - -Video
19 - - - - - -Other
90 - - - - -Parts and accessories
So a pinball machine is
9504.30.00.19
(and if you look closely, you can see that an arcade cabinet would be
9504.30.00.11)
---
Now that you know what the goods are, the HS book also shows us the amount of Duty that is payable. (In this case, it?s duty free). That Duty is based on the Tariff Treatment, or our relation with the country in which it was made.
Items that are MADE IN THE USA, and can be proved, are Duty Free (that whole NAFTA thing).
With personal shipments, a lot of the time customs doesn?t care where it was made, just where it came from. So if you have a PCB made in China, but it shipped from the US, they don?t care as its too much effort to go into the computer and change the Tariff Treatment from 10 (US) to 2 (China).
So, knowing that this pinball machine is duty free, lets see how everything gets calculated out.
Value of Pinball Machine - $1000 USD
Exchange rate at time of shipment ? 1.1725
(The exchange rate is not based on Bank rate, or Visa rate. I don?t think anyone really knows how it gets figured out, but it is always posted at Customs, or online)
Value For Duty $1172.50
(this is the value, of the goods, converted over to Canadian funds)
Duty 0%
Value for Tax (VFD + All Duties) $1172.50
GST (7%) $82.05
PST (8%) 93.80
Total Payable: $175.88
---
There are some conditions that customs puts on for low value goods.
Goods that are under $20 CANADIAN (not US, or EUR, but CANADIAN) where Canadian is defined as the price you paid, times the exchange rate applicable on that date, are allowed in the country Duty free, Tax (PST/GST) exempt.
So if you were to buy a pinball project machine, for $18 USD, it would NOT qualify. But if you bought it for $10 US (X 1.1725 = 17.25 CDN) it would be allowed in Duty Free, and Tax Exempt.
This is why sometimes your UPS shipments don?t have any COD tag on them to collect for duty and taxes, because there is none.
The other catch is Gifts.. Gifts are allowed to a maximum of $60 Canadian. If you receive a gift from someone, customs will deduct $60 off the price of the goods.
9816.00.00.00 - Gifts
So your KI2 for $75 (Canadian) that was a ?gift?, will be assessed duty/ taxes on $15.00 (Canadian)
Does this mean you should undervalue goods, and have that NOS tron cabinet declared at $15.50 to have it come in duty free and tax exempt?
- - -
AMPS ? Applied Monetary Penalty System
Customs has a new zero tolerance policy. Misdeclaring goods imposes a penalty of $1000 for the first offence, $5000 for second, $25,000 for the third. (for commercial), personal, they will assign you a fine, plus double duty and taxes, plus black list you everytime you come over the border you will get pulled over.
This is just the basics of international shipping, and customs. Many more requirements (and this is subject to change as I get around to it)
In a nut shell?
Under $20 ? Duty Free, Tax Exempt.
Items from the US are typically free for non commercial.
GST and PST is paid for non commercial goods.
Under $60 - can be a ?gift?, and be duty free, tax exempt
Don?t piss off Ocean Warehouses, or freight forwarders.
Common HS Numbers
Pinball Machine. 9504.30.00.19
Video Game : 9504.30.00.11
Gifts: 9816.00.00.00
Parts is a whole other topic. When is a Screw, not a Screw? You can?t say that a screw for your pinball machine is a pinball part. A part is something that is specific to the item, so a flipper assembly would be. But a screw for that flipper assembly is still a screw.
