Who's responsible?

R

RK in AB

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Sep 24, 2010
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Airdrie, AB
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I have a question and I hope someone can help. I don't do many meat shipments to Canada. I had a load that was shipped and crossed at Coutts, AB. I understand that the drivers don't get EMCAP's anymore and the only way to tell if the load requires inspection (if you don't call the broker) is by the colour of the stamp. Red means re-inspect and black means skip-lot. Is this right?

Obviously by my question you can tell that I got stung with this. Brokered the load to a carrier. Driver didn't ask the C/B if it was a skip or not and didn't contact me so I could check for him. Black stamp on the paperwork. Load went to the consignee in Edmonton. 3 days later I had to pay a carrier to take the load to Calgary, get it inspected and take it back to Edmonton.

If Customs screwed up, how do we hold them accountable?
 
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As far as I know, if a load is FDA (doesn't matter if it's meat specifically or not) then the proper procedure is for the carrier to prenotify of crossing at the border and it has to be during business hours. FDA can pull the trucks over and inspect at discretion regardless of the stamp.

Sounds like the driver crossed after hours.
 
Thanks theman, but I think you are misunderstanding. This was a meat load. The driver prenotified as required. The CFIA decides whether the load is a skip lot or a re-inspect. The re-inspect location is predetermined and in this case was in Calgary. The consignee was in Edmonton. The border officer is supposed to notify the driver if it is supposed to go for re-inspection or if it can go directly to the consignee. I was told that the colour of the stamp is an indicater. Black means go to the consignee, red means go to the re-inspection facility. I am hoping to find out if that is true first off, and if it is true and the border officer used the wrong stamp, who should have to pay the extra costs for that person using the wrong stamp? The stupid thing is, the consignee in Edmonton is an inspection facility as well, so why couldn't the inspection location be changed instead of having to move the product back and forth?
 
RK in MB said:
Thanks theman, but I think you are misunderstanding. This was a meat load. The driver prenotified as required. The CFIA decides whether the load is a skip lot or a re-inspect. The re-inspect location is predetermined and in this case was in Calgary. The consignee was in Edmonton. The border officer is supposed to notify the driver if it is supposed to go for re-inspection or if it can go directly to the consignee. I was told that the colour of the stamp is an indicater. Black means go to the consignee, red means go to the re-inspection facility. I am hoping to find out if that is true first off, and if it is true and the border officer used the wrong stamp, who should have to pay the extra costs for that person using the wrong stamp? The stupid thing is, the consignee in Edmonton is an inspection facility as well, so why couldn't the inspection location be changed instead of having to move the product back and forth?
Click to expand...

I believe that the driver is given the Original Meat Inspection Certificate back it is for inspection. If it is a skip lot the original Meat Inspection Certificate is surrendered to customs. Things may have changed since the last time I came through with meat but that is how it used to be.

You can be pretty sure no matter who's error this was no one will come foward to admit it and pay you extra expenses.
 
The last time we did a meat load was in the summer and it crossed at Queenston Ont. But the customs broker told us that if there was only 1 stamp it meant something and if there were 2 stamps it meant something else (can't remember which was which. But they never specified the colour of the stamp. At any rate, I had the driver ask not just once to the border official, but several times just to be sure whether it needed inspection or not and also asked him to verify the stamps with the customs broker once he crossed. It is hard to tell in your case who was negligent, but you can bet for sure that Canada Customs will not accept the blame and pay for the extra charges. I don't trust anyone; not the driver, not the customs broker, not Canada Customs until I find out for myself if the load needs inspection. It takes some extra time, but saves alot of hassle and cost in the end. These are tricky loads and the freight broker that gave us the load didn't give us a whole lot of information on the process. I would have liked a bit more direction from them.
 
If Customs screwed up, how do we hold them accountable?
You don't.
If there is a screw up by CBSA or CFIA, and you were completely compliant with the rules and regulations, then any additional costs incurred to correct the mistake by CBSA or CFIA should be borne by the importer of record. This is the type of shenanigans that turns a load into COD! The consignee or importer would have to try to recover from them, with your able assistance.
 
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Thank you to everyone for your input. I trust the person I dealt with at the carrier because I've known him for quite some time. I've implemented a new policy for meat loads after this requiring the PARS # so I can verify myself if it is a skip or re-inspect. I need to trust everyone that has anything to do with the load and sometimes that's difficult. If someone misses a step, we all fall down.
 
If you need further clarification on meat loads, give me a call. We've been doing meat loads for a few years. There are no coloured stamps.

Greg @ Erb
800 265 2182 x3280
 
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