On March 18, 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency ("CBSA") issued Customs Notice 20-09 "Changes in Requesting an Extension to the 90-day Period to Submit Corrections" in which the deadline for filing corrections is automatically extended by 30 days. Normally, when the CBSA issues a final report to an importer under audit (called a "trade compliance verification" in Canadian customs language), the importer is given only 90 days to make the corrections requested by the CBSA. According to Customs Notice 20-09, the deadline will be automatically extended by 30 days. Importers who received a final report from the CBSA before the COVID-19 shutdown in Canada now have 120 days to file their B2 corrections (on an individual basis or by filing a blanket B2).
It is important to note that Customs Notice 20-09 does not change the "reason to believe" rules and only applies to situations where there has been a trade compliance verification and the issuance of a Final Verification Report. Voluntary B2 Adjustment Requests for identified errors in the course of business still need to be filed within 90 days of a reason to believe.
Customs Notice 20-09 does not suggest the extension of time is only temporary. It seems to appear that an administrative change will continue after the COVID-19 crisis has subsided. Customs Notice 20-09 applies to origin corrections, tariff classification corrections and valuation corrections.
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