CARM Management

CARM Management

How JORI Can Assist with Managing Your CARM Obligations?

OVERVIEW

It’s crucial for importers to ensure timely reconciliation and payment of their CARM GST and duty balances each month, for several reasons:

  1. Interest Accumulation: The CBSA will apply interest daily on any outstanding CARM balances, which can quickly increase liabilities if not regularly monitored.
  2. Risk of Audits and Inspections: Unpaid CARM balances may trigger red flags, increasing the likelihood of customs audits or inspections.
  3. Complexity of Reconciliation: Balances that are not reconciled monthly can become significantly more challenging to manage over time, especially if they extend across multiple months or years.

The CARM portal includes all GST, duties, or special assessments from the CBSA related to your customs transactions. However, the JORI statement of account will only reflect transactions specifically managed by JORI.

 

This means there could be discrepancies between what is owed through JORI and what appears on your CARM portal due to factors such as:

 

  • Use of multiple customs brokers.
  • Unreconciled starting balances on your CARM account.
  • Penalties, assessments, or interest charges that JORI does not control.
  • Errors made by the CBSA.
  • Duplicate payments made to the CARM portal.

 

To ensure that clients maintain a clean, zero balance on their CARM monthly statement, JORI offers three different service options. These options are designed to help you manage your obligations effectively, preventing potential complications and ensuring compliance with CBSA requirements.

If you are looking for a hands-off, business as usual approach, fast forward to option 3.Top of Form

 

Please read below as there are fees that will be applicable in specific situations depending on the option you choose.

Overview:

 

In this option, the importer takes full responsibility for managing their own CARM portal and directly remits GST and duties payable to the CBSA. JORI’s role will be limited to processing customs clearances and will not include the payment of duties and taxes or monitoring the importer’s CARM portal.

 

Ideal candidates for option 1:

 

Businesses that would be a good fit for option 1 would have an individual or team that:

 

  • Has the training to manage your CARM portal and is dedicated to monitoring the portal monthly
  • Wants to allocate time and resources to managing this process directly
  • Has the authority pay your CARM balance directly to the CBSA
  • Has experience and knowledge working with the CBSA directly
  • Has a backup that can handle these tasks during vacation or sick days

 

Key Steps for Implementation:

  • Ensure registration on the CARM portal.
  • Grant JORI the necessary delegation of authority for customs clearance processing.

 

Importer’s Responsibilities:

  • Reconcile and confirm the amount owing on the CARM portal and make direct payments to the CBSA each month.
  • Log into the portal at least once every 180 days to prevent account closure.
  • Maintain the accuracy of JORI’s delegated authority.
  • Ensure a customs bond is in place.

 

Customs Broker’s Responsibilities:

  • Process customs clearances.

 

This approach allows importers who are well-prepared and have the appropriate internal resources to take control of their CARM obligations while still relying on JORI for essential customs clearance services.

Overview:

In Option 2, while importers manage their own CARM portal, JORI will be responsible for collecting and remitting GST and duty payments for customs clearances they handle on behalf of the importer.

JORI will not monitor the importer’s CARM portal.

Ideal candidate for option 2:

 

Businesses that would be a good fit for option 1 would have an individual or team that:

 

  • Has the training to manage your CARM portal and is dedicated to monitoring the portal monthly
  • Wants to allocate time and resources to managing this process directly
  • Has experience and knowledge working with the CBSA directly
  • Has a backup that can handle this task during vacation or sick days

 

Key Implementation Steps:

  • Set up and maintain the CARM portal.
  • Grant JORI the necessary delegation of authority to process customs clearances and remit GST/duty payments on your behalf.

 

Importer’s Responsibilities:

  • Login and monitor your CARM portal on a monthly basis
  • Regularly reconcile the CARM portal to ensure accuracy against JORI’s statements.
  • Pay JORI for the GST and duty related to transactions JORI processed.
  • Directly pay any remaining balances on the CARM portal to the CBSA or through other customs brokers.
  • Log into the portal every 180 days to keep the account active.
  • Maintain JORI’s authority as Business Account Manager (BAM) without alterations.
  • Ensure a customs bond is in place.

 

JORI’s Responsibilities:

  • Process all customs clearances.
  • Provide monthly statements detailing the customs transactions they have processed.
  • Remit the collected GST and duty payments to the CBSA on behalf of the importer.

Option 2 can be a good approach, but only if the importer is committed to investing time and energy into managing their CARM portal monthly.

 

 

Overview:

 

Under option 3 JORI will provide clients with the following:

 

  • The client’s monthly CARM balance
  • The client’s monthly JORI balance

 

The importer will then know if there is an outstanding balance on its CARM account. The importer can then trouble shoot the issue and reconcile the balance on its own, or work with the JORI team to troubleshoot the issue.

 

This is the closet option we have to the pre-CARM business as usual approach, but there are some changes the importer needs to be aware of.

 

Ideal for candidates for option 3:

Option 3 is a good fit for companies that:

 

  • Want to Minimize the Impact of the CARM Transition: Aim to keep their operations as similar as possible to the pre-CARM environment to ensure minimal disruption to their business processes.
  • Want JORI as an Intermediary: Prefer having JORI act as the go-between with Canada Customs, ensuring smooth communications and efficient transactions.
  • Value Operational Efficiency: Seek to reduce the administrative load on their teams, allowing them to focus on core business activities rather than the complexities of customs compliance and financial management.
  • Value JORI as Their Primary Broker: Rely on JORI as their main customs broker, while occasionally using other brokers, needing a streamlined approach to manage multiple brokerage interactions.

 

Key Implementation Steps:

  • Set up the CARM portal.
  • Delegate authority to JORI to manage customs clearances and handle GST/duty payments.

 

Importer’s Responsibilities:

  • Review the monthly statements provided by JORI against the CARM portal statements to ensure consistency.
  • Pay any GST and duty as per JORI’s statement.
  • Address any unreconciled balances on the CARM portal as indicated by JORI.
  • Log into the portal every 180 days to maintain account activity.
  • Ensure the continuity of JORI’s delegated authority as Business Account Manager (BAM).

 

Customs Broker Responsibilities:

  • Manage all aspects of customs clearance.
  • Provide detailed monthly statements of customs transactions processed.
  • Provide monthly updates on the CARM portal balances to the importer.

 

This comprehensive management option by JORI is designed to offer peace of mind to importers by ensuring that all financial and compliance aspects related to customs are handled professionally, reducing the administrative burden and risk for the business.

 

                                               

CONTACT JORI

Important Responsibility Disclaimer:
By selecting Option 1 or Option 2, you acknowledge and agree that:
  • Limited JORI Assistance: JORI’s involvement will be limited to processing customs clearances and/or handling GST/duty payments as specified. JORI will not manage the CARM portal on your behalf.
  • Client Responsibilities: You are fully responsible for the management of your CARM portal, including ensuring timely and accurate payment of all fees and compliance with CBSA regulations.
  • Risk of Non-Compliance: You accept the risks associated with self-managing your CARM obligations, which may include potential interest charges, penalties, or increased likelihood of customs audits and inspections due to non-compliance or errors.