BTBObserver Plug: Improving Border Logistics-Increased and Matched Expedited Customs Clearance Merchandise Thresholds

At Beyond the Border Observer, a project of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Canada Institute, Keith Edmund White offers an article exploring a recent regulatory change at the Canadian-U.S. border.

At a minimum, anyone interested in facilitating international trade that hasn't yet come by the term "border logistics" should take a read.

(Note: This plug represents shameless self-promotion.) 

From the post:

This Monday the United States and Canada increased and matched the value thresholds for “expedited customs clearance” to CDN$2,500 and USD$2,500 respectively. Canada also announced that their border agency would match America’s level for low-value shipments that are exempt from NAFTA Certificate of Origin requirements.

This seemingly small but important achievement resulted from the Beyond the Border (BTB) Initiative, a bi-national effort between Canada and the United States to cooperate on security and border management.

...

Now, as reported by Mark Rockwell at Government Security News, the changes to the Informal Entry Limit and Removal of a Formal Entry Requirement regulation brought three changes for merchandise going through U.S. customs valued between $2,000 and $2,500. This merchandise now: 

-bypasses surety bond requirements,
-gets a faster clearance process, and
-enjoys a reduced Merchandise Process Fee (MPF) of $2, instead of $25 (assuming e-filing).

And this regulatory change represents smart regulatory modernization for 4 reasons... 

Read more at Beyond the Border Observer.