Clearit.ca's Blog on Customs Brokerage and News Updates

Clearit.ca, Your online Customs broker   What is a Customs Broker? Before we get begin, let’s take a look at what a customs broker does exactly.  A customs broker is appointed by an importer (or exporter) who does not wish to deal or transact directly with Canada Border Services Agency. A Customs Broker’s primary job is to ensure accuracy and compliance of goods being imported by properly submitting a B3 to customs as well as collect...

Canadian Customs Broker: Clearing goods at all ports across Canada As a Canadian Customs Broker, Clearit.ca can clear personal or commercial shipments across all ports in Canada. Whether it is an airport, ocean port, border point, or even an inland port, Clearit.ca online customs broker has  the capability and expertise to get it done.   I use Clearit.ca to clear my Canadian imports, can they handle my exports as well? Canadian Custom...

Welcome to Clearit.ca’s Guide to importing From China. Here we will detail the process of finding a supplier, communicating with them, and paying for & receiving your goods.   Importing from China: Finding a supplier When looking for suppliers, many of us first begin our search in China. It is world renowned for its affordable and abundant products, but where do you begin?  As someone looking to start up a business with little to n...

Duty free: Details surfacing on trade pact between Canada and E.U.   Today, The conservative federal government tabled a report in the house of commons detailing some of the negotiation between Canadian and European leaders, shedding some light as to what we can expect from this landmark trade agreement.   Elimination of duty   It is expected that up to 98% of duty on European goods will be removed day one the trade agreemen...

Canada Customs: General Preferential Tariff (GPT), implemented in 1974, is set to expire in June 2014   Canada Customs: General Preferential Tariff, also known as GPT, is a designation which allows for about 80% of products coming from particular countries to qualify for reduced or duty-free status. The goal of of the designation was an attempt to increase economic development and trade with developing countries. Due to changes in designa...

Canada Announces Plan to launch pilot project for the promotion and facilitation of Asia-Pacific economic cooperation: Great news for Importers!   The goal of the Pilot program, and the project in general, is to facilitate business travel to the Asia Pacific region by removing the need for individual visas or entry permits and allowing a free flow through the participating countries. Travelers to the region using their APEC card will also ...

Over the Holiday Season, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will see a big increase in volume of parcels crossing the border. With most of these parcels destined as gifts for family and friends, the CBSA would like to give you a few tips when sending holiday mail.   Before sending a Package into Canada, please take note of the following: parcels must include declaration form indicating sender and recipient address as well a descript...

Sufferance Warehouse   The major role of the CBSA is to assess all goods entering Canada and ensure their legality. More often then not, this duty is carried out at one of many Canadian border points, however when this is not possible, it can be performed inland at a licensed warehouse.   How It Works: Sufferance warehouses are privately owned storage facilities which are licensed by the CBSA for short-term storage of imported goods not...

What are duties and Taxes & How do i pay for them?  To those who are not familiar, duties can be somewhat of a mystery and seem extremely arbitrary -but there is in fact good reason for them. Duty is put in place to protect Canadian industry and is established by the Canadian Department of finance. Duty rates may vary greatly from one product to another, depending on that products manufacturing in Canada.  If your imported goods are manufa...

We love small business! We can't stress this enough to people emailing and calling us with their questions about importing.  Many people are just starting out or thinking of starting their own import business from around the world.  We love working with clients in the start-up phase and watching them flourish! If you're using Clearit.ca, you're already a successful business person in our books - where else can you get your shipments customs cl...