Advance Ruling Program

The Advance Ruling Program provides nationally binding rulings on how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA) and the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (CCRFTA) apply to future imports of goods into Canada. Advance rulings are issued under section 43.1 of the Customs Act pursuant to Article 509 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Article 5.8 of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA), Article E-09 of the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) or Article V.9 of the Canada - Costa Rica Agreement (CCRFTA).

Eligibility Criteria

Canadian importers (or their agents) proposing to import goods from the U.S., Mexico, Chile, Israel or Costa Rica. Exporters and producers in the U.S., Mexico, Chile, Israel or Costa Rica (or their agents) proposing to export goods into Canada.

Summary

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issues advance rulings on a range of NAFTA, CIFTA , CCFTA or CCRFTA related issues, including the following:

• whether or not an imported good qualifies as an originating good and thus qualifies for preferential tariff treatment under NAFTA, CIFTA, CCFTA or CCRFTA;
• in the case of goods exported from a NAFTA territory, from Chile or from CCRFTA, whether or not the good meets a specific regional value content requirement or tariff classification change requirement (these rules are collectively known as rules of origin, and determine the eligibility of a good for preferential tariff treatment under the respective agreement);
• in the case of goods exported from a NAFTA territory or from Chile, whether or not the proposed marking of a good satisfies country-of-origin marking requirements.

To obtain an advance ruling on future imports, there are three options:

• requests can be made in writing to the Chief, Client Services in the region in which most of the importing will occur;
• by completing Form B227 - Request for Advance Ruling or for an Appeal of an Advance Ruling available at );
• by contacting the Forms and Publications Department at 1-800-959-2221.

The CBSA will review all written applications and let the applicant know if any additional information is required. The Agency aims to issue these rulings within 120 days of receiving the complete information.

An advance ruling number can be noted in any of the following ways:

• on the Certificate of Origin;
• on CBSA customs invoice;
• in the description field on the B3 accounting document.

Although anyone importing the goods covered can use the number and is encouraged to do so, the ruling is only binding for the person or persons to whom the ruling was issued. Since all information received is treated as confidential, the department will release details of the ruling only to the person to whom the ruling was issued.

An advance ruling may not be applied if imported goods differ materially from the goods that were the subject of the ruling.

An advance ruling may be modified, revoked or considered to be no longer valid in certain limited circumstances, such as:

• the person to whom the advance ruling was issued has not acted within the terms and conditions of that ruling;
• the modification or revocation benefits the person who requested the ruling;
• the facts upon which the advanced ruling was based and issued have changed or were found to be inaccurate.

A person who has received an advance ruling has the right to appeal that ruling.

If you require personal assistance, you may visit the Customs Client Services Office closest to you. For a listing of the Customs Client Services Offices, contact your local Canada Business service centre (see the document Customs Offices - Supplement) or consult CBSA's Web site.

*Note: To download publications in PDF format, Adobe Acrobat Reader is required (available free of charge).

Quebec Contact(s):
See National Contact.

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National Contact(s):
Border Information Service - BIS
Canada Border Services Agency
Telephone: 204-983-3500 or 506-636-5064
Toll-free (information): 1-800-461-9999
Web site: http://www.cbsa.gc.ca/menu-eng.html