Ottawa, July 4, 2002

1. This notice is for the parties who import commercial shipments into Canada and the customs staff involved in the review of, and the decision-making process for, the importation of commercial goods using the Frequent Importer Release System (FIRST) release option.

2. Effective January 1, 2003, all drivers involved with the FIRST clearance option are required to be registered under the Commercial Driver Registration Program (CDRP).     This decision is one step in our plan to increase security at the border and ensure speedy passage for low and known risk drivers.

3. A grace period of three months following the effective date will be granted in the event that some carriers have not registered all drivers within the given timeframe. However, shipments may be delayed due to unregistered drivers being referred for risk screening purposes.

4. Unless drivers are registered under CDRP, releases presented under the FIRST option will not be accepted after the grace period. Non-compliance in the registration of drivers will result in clients having to use another release option. The FIRST release option will not be supported when Advance Commercial Information (ACI) is introduced late in 2003.

5. We believe that the majority of FIRST clients will choose the Customs Self Assessment (CSA) trade option as an alternative to ACI as they have established a compliance history with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA), repeatedly importing goods that are considered low risk from U.S. vendors.

6. Under CSA, a risk assessment of the importer, carrier, and driver who are responsible for transporting the goods across the border ensure that all parties involved with the importation are known entities and are of low risk. Importers and carriers must demonstrate that their books and records and business systems have, or will have, the necessary linkages, controls, and audit trails to support the CSA program. The CSA program eliminates the requirement for any transactional transmissions of data related to eligible goods and streamlines accounting and payment process for all imported goods for the CSA-approved importer by using their own business systems and allowing them to self-assess customs duties and taxes.