Customs Sufferance Warehouses Regulations (SOR/86-1065)

1 [Repealed, SOR/2024-41, s. 36]

Interpretation

2 In these Regulations,

Act

Act means the Customs Act; (Loi)

applicant

applicant means a person who applies for a licence; (demandeur)

carrier

carrier means a person who, pursuant to the Transportation of Goods Regulations, is authorized to transport goods or to cause goods to be transported; (transitaire)

chief officer of customs

chief officer of customs, with respect to a sufferance warehouse or a proposed sufferance warehouse, means the manager of the customs office or customs offices that serve the area in which the sufferance warehouse is located or is proposed to be located; (agent en chef des douanes)

Department

Department[Repealed, SOR/2005-211, s. 1]

excise warehouse licensee

excise warehouse licensee has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Excise Act, 2001; (exploitant agréé d’entrepôt d’accise)

firearm

firearm has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Criminal Code; (arme à feu)

licence

licence means a licence to operate a place as a sufferance warehouse; (agrément)

licensee

licensee means a person to whom a licence has been issued. (exploitant)

prohibited ammunition

prohibited ammunition has the same meaning as in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code; (munitions prohibées)

prohibited device

prohibited device has the same meaning as in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code; (dispositif prohibé)

prohibited weapon

prohibited weapon has the same meaning as in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code; (arme prohibée)

restricted weapon

restricted weapon has the same meaning as in subsection 84(1) of the Criminal Code; (arme à autorisation restreinte)

special container

special container has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Excise Act, 2001; (contenant spécial)

PART ILicensing of Sufferance Warehouses

Issuance of Licence

• 3 (1) For the purposes of section 24 of the Act and subject to subsection (3), the Minister may issue a licence to any person who makes an application for a licence in accordance with subsection (2) and gives the security required under section 4.

• (2) An application for a licence must be submitted to the Minister in the prescribed form, together with a detailed plan of the proposed sufferance warehouse.

• (2.1) The plan referred to in subsection (2) must indicate

  • (a) whether the place proposed to be operated as a sufferance warehouse exists or is to be constructed;

  • (b) the type of construction of the place, whether or not it already exists; and

  • (c) the area, within the place, that is to be used for the storage of goods.

• (3) The Minister shall not issue a licence to an applicant unless

  • (a) the applicant is of good character;

  • (b) [Repealed, SOR/95-177, s. 1]

  • (c) the applicant has sufficient financial resources to enable him to provide the facilities, equipment, personnel and services required under sections 11 to 13 and to lease or purchase the proposed sufferance warehouse;

  • (d) the volume and nature of business in the area in which the applicant proposes to operate a sufferance warehouse is such that a sufferance warehouse is needed to serve the importers in that area;

  • (e) the site of the proposed sufferance warehouse is within a reasonable distance from major transportation routes and a customs office;

  • (f) the proposed sufferance warehouse contains adequate space for the storage of imported goods;

  • (g) the structure of the proposed sufferance warehouse will be suitable for the operation of a sufferance warehouse; and

  • (h) the Agency is able to provide customs services with respect to the proposed sufferance warehouse.

• (4) [Repealed, SOR/95-177, s. 1]

Security

• 4 (1) An applicant must, before a licence is issued to the applicant, give security in accordance with the requirements of the Financial Security (Electronic Means) Regulations and in an amount determined by the Minister.

• (2) The Minister may at any time require a licensee to increase the amount of security given under subsection (1) to an amount sufficient to ensure the payment of any duties payable in respect of goods stored in the sufferance warehouse.

• (3) [Repealed, SOR/2024-41, s. 38]

5 [Repealed, SOR/2024-41, s. 39]

Amendment of Licence

• 6 (1) The Minister may amend a licence only for the following purposes:

  • (a) subject to subsection (2),

    • (i) to change a restriction specified in the licence regarding the classes of goods that may be received in the sufferance warehouse in respect of which the licence was issued, or to specify such a restriction, and

    • (ii) to change the circumstances specified in the licence in which goods may be received in the sufferance warehouse, or to specify such circumstances; or

  • (b) to change the name of the licensee, where the name of the licensee is changed.

• (2) The Minister may amend a licence for the purposes set out in subparagraph (1)(a)(i) or (ii) only where he gives to the licensee 90 days notice of the proposed amendment.

Cancellation or Suspension of Licence

7 The Minister may cancel a licence where the licensee

• (a) no longer owns or leases the place that is licensed as a sufferance warehouse;

• (b) requests the Minister in writing to cancel the licence; or

• (c) is bankrupt.

• 8 (1) Subject to section 9, the Minister may suspend or cancel a licence where the licensee

  • (a) is the subject of a receivership in respect of his debts;

  • (b) fails to comply with any Act of Parliament, or any regulation made pursuant thereto, that prohibits, controls or regulates the importation or exportation of goods;

  • (c) [Repealed, SOR/95-177, s. 4]

  • (d) has, in the course of his operation of the sufferance warehouse, acted dishonestly in his business dealings with customs brokers, importers, carriers, Her Majesty or servants of Her Majesty; or

  • (e) has been incompetent in the operation of the sufferance warehouse.

• (2) Subject to section 9, the Minister may cancel a licence where

  • (a) the volume of goods being received in the sufferance warehouse is no longer sufficient to warrant the continued operation;

  • (b) there is no longer a need for a sufferance warehouse in the area in which the sufferance warehouse is located; or

  • (c) the Agency is no longer able to provide customs services with respect to the sufferance warehouse.

• 9 (1) The Minister shall, immediately after suspending a licence, give to the licensee a notice confirming the suspension and providing all relevant information concerning the grounds on which the Minister has suspended the licence.

• (2) The licensee may, within 90 days after the day on which the licence is suspended, make representations to the Minister regarding why the licence should be reinstated.

• (3) The Minister shall, before cancelling a licence under section 8, give the licensee 90 days notice of the proposed cancellation and provide the licensee with all relevant information concerning the grounds on which the Minister proposes to cancel the licence.

• (4) The licensee may, within 90 days after the day on which the notice referred to in subsection (3) is given, make representations to the Minister regarding why the licence should not be cancelled.

Reinstatement of Licence

10 The Minister may reinstate a suspended licence where the Minister is satisfied that the cause for the suspension no longer exists.

PART IIOperation of Sufferance Warehouses

Facilities, Equipment and Personnel

• 11 (1) Every licensee shall provide, at the sufferance warehouse in respect of which his licence was issued

  • (a) washroom facilities and offices for the use of officers, and the heat, light and cleaning services necessary for those facilities and offices, where so requested by the chief officer of customs;

  • (b) adequate space for the examination of imported goods by officers;

  • (c) the personnel and equipment necessary to ensure that the goods to be examined by an officer are made available to the officer for examination;

  • (d) a detention compound or parking area for the storage of imported goods that are held in a conveyance, where so requested by the chief officer of customs; and

  • (e) facilities, equipment and personnel sufficient to control access to the sufferance warehouse and provide secure storage of the goods stored in it, including

    • (i) doors and other building components of sturdy construction,

    • (ii) secure locks on doors and windows,

    • (iii) signs that indicate the security requirements applicable to the premises, and

    • (iv) where the sufferance warehouse will be used for the storage of designated goods, such additional facilities and equipment as may be required to ensure the secure storage of those goods.

• (2) Where a sufferance warehouse is restricted by the terms and conditions of its licence to the receipt of goods arriving by motor vehicles used for commercial purposes, the licensee may lease space to any carrier who has requested space for his exclusive use in the operation of a separate sufferance warehouse.

Operation and Maintenance Standards

• 12 (1) Every licensee shall ensure that the goods received in the sufferance warehouse are stored safely and securely in the area designated for that purpose in the plan referred to in subsection 3(2).

• (2) No person, other than the licensee, an employee of the licensee or an employee of a carrier engaged in the delivery of goods to or the removal of goods from the sufferance warehouse, shall enter any place in it where goods are stored, without the written authorization or the attendance of an officer.

• (3) Every licensee shall have in place

  • (a) procedures to maintain the security of, and restrict access to, the sufferance warehouse; and

  • (b) procedures to ensure that personnel working in the sufferance warehouse are aware of and follow the procedures referred to in paragraph (a).

• 13 (1) Every licensee shall make a schedule of the charges payable for the services offered by the licensee and shall make the schedule available for examination by any person who requests to see it.

• (2) Any facilities, services, personnel and equipment provided by a licensee to an officer under any of paragraphs 11(1)(a) to (c) shall be provided free of charge.

Receipt and Refusal of Goods

• 14 (1) Every licensee shall acknowledge the receipt of goods in the sufferance warehouse by electronic means.

• (2) However, if the goods were transported to Canada by or on behalf of a courier and will be released under subsection 32(4) of the Act before the accounting required under subsection 32(1) of the Act and the payment of duties, the licensee shall acknowledge the receipt of the goods in the sufferance warehouse by

  • (a) endorsing the bill of lading, waybill or similar document presented by the carrier;

  • (b) endorsing the customs document on which the goods were reported under the Reporting of Imported Goods Regulations; or

  • (c) issuing a transfer document to the carrier.

• (3) For the purposes of subsection (2), courier has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Persons Authorized to Account for Casual Goods Regulations.

14.1 A licensee may refuse goods that are brought to the sufferance warehouse for safe-keeping when the storage of the goods is requested by or on behalf of a person who has an unpaid account for storage fees at the sufferance warehouse.

14.2 [Repealed, SOR/2005-211, s. 3]

Time Limits

• 15 (1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4.1), if goods in a sufferance warehouse have not been removed from the sufferance warehouse within 40 days after the day on which the goods were reported under section 12 of the Act, the goods may, at the end of that limitation period, be deposited in a place of safe-keeping as provided for in subsection 37(1) of the Act.

• (2) Where perishable goods in a sufferance warehouse have not been removed therefrom within four days after the day on which they were reported under section 12 of the Act, the goods may be deposited in a place of safe-keeping as provided for in subsection 37(1) of the Act.

• (3) If goods in a sufferance warehouse are nuclear substances as defined in section 2 of the Nuclear Safety and Control Act or prescribed equipment as defined in section 1 of the General Nuclear Safety and Control Regulations and have not been removed from that warehouse within 14 days after the day on which the goods are reported under section 12 of the Act, the goods may be deposited in a place of safe-keeping as provided for in subsection 37(1) of the Act.

• (4) For the purposes of subsection 39.1(1) of the Act, firearms, prohibited ammunition, prohibited devices, prohibited or restricted weapons, tobacco products and vaping products are goods of a prescribed class that are forfeit if they are not removed from a sufferance warehouse within 14 days after the day on which they were reported under section 12 of the Act.

• (4.1) For the purposes of subsection 39.1(1) of the Act, spirits are goods of a prescribed class that are forfeit if they are not removed from a sufferance warehouse within 21 days after the day on which they were reported under section 12 of the Act.

• (5) Every licensee shall provide the Agency with a list of all goods not removed from the sufferance warehouse within the time limit prescribed in subsection (1), (2), (3), (4) or (4.1), as the case may be, on the first business day following the end of that period.

16 [Repealed, SOR/96-38, s. 7]

Alteration of Goods

17 Every licensee shall ensure that goods are manipulated, unpacked, packed, altered or combined with other goods while in a sufferance warehouse only for the purpose of

• (a) stamping the goods, if the goods consist of

  • (i) imported raw leaf tobacco or imported tobacco products that are placed in the sufferance warehouse in accordance with section 39 of the Excise Act, 2001, or

  • (ii) imported vaping products that are placed in the sufferance warehouse in accordance with section 158.51 of the Excise Act, 2001;

• (b) marking the goods, if the goods consist of special containers of spirits or wine, imported by an excise warehouse licensee, that are placed in the sufferance warehouse in accordance with section 80 or 85 of the Excise Act, 2001; or

• (c) marking the goods, if the goods consist of goods in respect of which any regulations made under paragraph 19(1)(a) of the Customs Tariff apply.