About the CFIA > Imports 

PRE-ARRIVAL REVIEW SYSTEM (PARS)

Do you know about PARS for CFIA Commodities?

PARS is one of many Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) initiatives aimed at improving service and compliance. It is available at all automated Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) commercial offices.

What is PARS?

PARS is a Pre-Arrival Review System for imported fish, food and agriculture products. It blends with the existing Canada Customs pre-arrival systems.

Why should I use PARS?

Waiting times at the point of importation are significantly reduced if, under PARS, goods are in compliance and required documentation is complete.

How does PARS work?

The key element of PARS is a bar-coded cargo control number which the exporter or carrier applies to the top right-hand corner of the original CBSA invoice for each shipment. All other required documents must also be provided - certificates of origin, invoices, declarations, etc.

A copy of the documentation, including the bar-coded invoice(s), is sent to the Canadian importer or broker by facsimile before arrival of the shipment in Canada.

The importer/broker submits the PARS documentation to CBSA (for commodities that should be released by the CBSA as per AIRS) or to the CFIA Import Service Centre (ISC).

The importer or broker must submit the CFIA-PARS release package a minimum of four hours and maximum of 30 days before the goods are scheduled to arrive in Canada.

Except for meat imported from USA, a maximum of 72 hours between the date of issue of a USDA/FSIS OMIC and the date of the shipment entering Canadian soil must be maintained.

If the documentation is complete, a CFIA-ISC Import Specialist stamps the documents and sends the reviewed release package to the importer/broker for further processing by CBSA.

If the documentation is unsatisfactory, a CFIA-ISC Import Specialist will stamp it as rejected and return it for correction.

The importer or broker has to submit their import request to CBSA. When the documentation is received by the CBSA, an Officer enters the recommendation "Release" or "Refer" into the automated CBSA computer system. Once entered into the Customs Commercial System, the CFIA-PARS "Release" or "Refer" recommendation will remain in effect for a limited period of time (Refer to the table).

When the shipment arrives at the point of importation, the carrier presents the bar-coded original release documentation to a CBSA Officer. The Officer electronically enters the cargo control number into the CBSA’s automated system.

The system displays the status of the shipment as “Release” or “Refer”.

If the status of the shipment is “Release”, the CBSA Officer releases the goods. If the status is “Refer”, the shipment will be referred by the CBSA Officer to CFIA-ISC who then will follow normal examination procedures.

Where do I get more information?

IMPORT SERVICE CENTRES ACROSS CANADA

CFIA COMMODITIES ELIGIBLE FOR CFIA-PARS & ALL IMPORT REQUESTS

NOTE: Once entered into the Customs Commercial System, the CFIA-PARS "Release" or "Refer" recommendation will remain in effect for this limited period of time.

After this period of time a new import release request will have to be re-submitted to the Import Service Centre (ISC) for release.

April 2006
P0009-06