February 21, 2020 – Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) issued a notice to industry to remind brokers and importers that the date to decommission Other Government Department (OGD) release service options (SOs) is fast approaching. The decommissioning of the release service options was published in Customs Notice 19-21.
CBSA will proceed with turning off functionality for OGD Pre-arrival Release System (PARS) SO 463 and OGD Release on Minimum Documentation (RMD) SO 471 on April 1, 2020. Once this occurs, goods regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Transport Canada (TC), and any shipments containing co-regulated goods can only be electronically released using the Single Window Initiative (SWI), Integrated Import Declaration (IID), SO 911.
The chart below outlines what release service options are currently available and what will be available after decommissioning has occurred:
| PGA | Release Service Options Pre-Decommissioning | Release Service Options Post-Decommissioning |
| CFIA – all programs. | OGD PARS (SO463)
OGD RMD (SO471) SWI IID (SO911) PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) |
SWI IID (SO911)
PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) |
| NRCan (Energy Efficiency Program Only) | OGD PARS (SO463)
OGD RMD (SO471) SWI IID (SO911) PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) |
SWI IID (SO911)
PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) |
| TC (Tires Program Only) | OGD PARS (SO463)
OGD RMD (SO471) SWI IID (SO911) PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) |
SWI IID (SO911) PAPER PARS (SO117)
PAPER RMD (SO174) |
| Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
Environment and Climate Change Canada Fisheries and Oceans Canada Global Affairs Canada Health Canada Natural Resources Canada (Explosives and Diamonds) Public Health Agency of Canada Transport Canada (Vehicles) |
EDI PARS (SO125)
EDI RMD (SO257) PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) SWI IID (SO911) |
EDI PARS (SO125)
EDI RMD (SO257) PAPER PARS (SO117) PAPER RMD (SO174) SWI IID (SO911)
Co-regulated with CFIA, Transport Canada (Tires Program only), or Natural Resources Canada (Energy Efficiency Program only) = SWI IID (SO911) |
Note: If clients utilize the SWI IID (SO 911) all required data elements must be submitted for all regulated commodities regardless of which PGA regulates the goods.
If you have not tested and certified to submit a SWI IID, you should contact the Technical Commercial Client Unit (TCCU) immediately.
Contact Information
For information about the EDI registration/certification process contact the CBSA’s TCCU by e-mail tccu-ustcc@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
For information about the Single Window Initiative (SWI), contact the SWI Generic Mailbox at CBSA.SW_Program-Programme_Du_GU.ASFC@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
or visit CBSA’s SWI webpage.