Administrative Monetary Penalty System
C377

Contravention

Person failed:

  • to mark the goods, or mark the goods with the correct country of origin, or
  • to mark the goods in the appropriate method and manner, prior to importing the goods, if arrangements were not made to mark the goods in Canada prior to requesting release.

Detailed list of goods required to be marked.

Penalty

Occurrence Penalty
1st $150 Footnote *
2nd $225
3rd and subsequent $450
Footnote *

A 30-day delay in the escalation of penalty levels from the first to the second will apply to this contravention. Should a second penalty with the same contravention be issued against the same client, the system will not escalate the penalty level to level two unless 30 days have transpired from when the first Notice of Penalty Assessment (NPA) was issued or the infraction occurred. The non-escalation rule applies from the first level to the second level only; it does not apply from the second to the third level.

Return to footnote * referrer

Penalty basis
Per shipment
Retention period
12 months

Guidelines

Non-compliance occurs when goods requiring marking are not marked or not marked properly.

Applied against the importer.

Applied by a Border Services Officer.

This penalty is also applied by a Senior Officer Trade Compliance (SOTC) in post release environment.

The marking program has three components:

  1. Do the goods require marking?
  2. How should the goods be marked?
  3. What country should be marked on the goods?

Border Services Officers are responsible for determining if the goods meet the marking program requirements.

If a shipment arrives unmarked or improperly marked and there is no uncertainty as to what country should be marked on the goods, the customs officer must reject the import transaction and ensure that the shipment meets marking requirements prior to release.

In cases where fraud is suspected (see Customs Act, section 159.1) a penalty will be issued regardless of whether or not there will be a criminal prosecution.

There are certain types of goods or goods imported under specific conditions that may be exempt from the requirement for country of origin marking. Refer to the D-Memorandum 11-3-1 for details.

For further information as to the method of determining the country of origin, the method and manner of marking, the authorization to mark goods in Canada, the issuance of notice to mark goods, please refer to D-Memorandum 11-3-1.

References

Legislation

Customs Act, section 35.01

D-Memo

D11-3-1, Marking of Imported Goods

Other

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