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March 5, 2010

Upcoming changes to the Administrative Monetary Penalty System

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) published the key changes to be made to the Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) as a result of the AMPS fundamental review.

The implementation of the revised penalty system will occur in phases.

Phase I, in April, will introduce many changes including changes to the penalty amounts and structures, and the elimination of most of the percentage of the value for duty penalties, which will be replaced with graduated or flat penalty amounts;

The first phase will also include a 30-day delay in the escalation of penalty levels from the first to the second for low and medium risk contraventions.

Phase II, in October will bring many more changes, including the collapsing of Marking Contraventions from 68 to 1.

Phase III, in the years 2011-2012, includes full programming of collapsed contraventions into logical regroupings to be completed by the Information, Science and Technology Branch in 2011-12.

For more information on the upcoming changes please see Customs Notice CN10-002 - Key Changes to the Administrative Monetary Penalty System (AMPS) Regime as a Result of the AMPS Fundamental Review.