OTA’s First Symposium Series event — Building Bridges: The 21st Century Can-Am Border – was a huge hit last week. OTA received great feedback from participants and presenters, who are already asking when the next session is happening.
Speakers from Privy Council Office, Canada Border Services Agency, US Customs and Border Protection provided updates on border issues relevant to the trucking industry – from Beyond the Border progress to operations issues facing the industry in coming months and years.
Topics included Advanced Commercial Information (CBSA), Automated Commercial Environment (US CBP), preclearance and pre-inspection, wood packaging material treatment requirements, ACI, in transit shipments, trusted trader program expansion, Single Window Initiative (SWI) and International Trade Data System (ITDS), Customs Self-Assessment (CSA) and Importer Self-Assessment (ISA), border crossing fees, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and much more!
An open question and answer period at the end of the day allowed carriers to interact direct with agency spokespeople to ask questions and raise unique challenges, such as requirements for moving vehicles into Canada, in bond moves and overcoming obstacles throughout the supply chain. A networking lunch afforded participants the chance to chat informally with peers and government officials.
Stay tuned for information about the next border issues symposium. In the meantime, sign up for our next event in the Symposium Series – Regulatory Compliance in the Ontario Trucking Industry on May 20. See the complete Symposium Series lineup for 2015 here.
