Effective January 4, 2021 the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has mandated that all freight forwarders transmit House Bill of Lading (eHBL) data electronically.

From January and through June 2021, the CBSA will issue zero-rated penalties for non-compliance (also called informed compliance). Thereafter, CBSA is expected to issue Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) penalties for non-compliance.

Shipments subject to the eHBL requirement include:

• Shipments with 1 shipper and 1 consignee moved under an HBL (back-to-back shipment)
• Shipments with multiple shippers and 1 consignee moved under multiple HBLs and 1 Master Bill of Lading (buyer’s consolidation).

Shipments which are exempt from the eHBL requirement include:

• Consolidated in-transit shipments moving through Canada destined for the U.S. may be reported using eHBL or ACI supplemental reports
• Consolidated in-transit shipments moving through Canada from the U.S. destined for off-shore are excluded from eHBL reporting

All applicable shipment and manifest information must be received by CBSA within their stipulated Advance Manifest reporting timeframes.

Shippers must supply ZIM Logistics with sufficient data, in a timely manner, in order for these electronic submissions to be successfully sent to the CBSA. Failure to do so may result in shipments being rolled at origin, or in penalties levied by the Canada Border Services Agency.