The Focus: The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) maintains an active, risk-based list of trade compliance verification priorities focusing heavily on tariff classification, valuation, and trade agreement origin compliance.
Key Target Areas: Recent verification cycles target supply-managed goods (such as specific frozen desserts containing dairy and spent fowl products), energy commodities, GST exemption codes, and various trade agreements like CUSMA, CETA, and the CPTPP.
Why It Matters for Importers: High error rates in past verification rounds mean the CBSA is actively issuing compliance interventions—such as Trade Advisory Notices (TANs) or reassessments—making accurate product classification and documentation critical to avoid financial penalties.
