Border agency highlights seized weapons, goods; millions of travellers processed in 2022

Law360 Canada (December 13, 2022, 2:40 PM EST) -- Federal border agents processed 50 million travellers entering Canada in the first 10 months of 2022 — including 24,072 Afghans and 112,027 Ukrainians — as well as 4,457,754 commercial trucks and collected about $33 billion in duties and taxes.

Those were some of the numbers the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) highlighted in a report the agency said demonstrates how its 14,000 employees, including 6,500 customs officers across Canada and around the world, worked hard in 2022 “to facilitate the free flow of people and goods, support the immigration system, and stop firearms and illegal drugs, like opioids, from entering Canada.”

The CBSA said that from Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, 2022, its agents prevented tax evasion on more than 298,051 kilograms of tobacco intercepted at border crossings, and imposed 952 penalties, totalling $784,800, for food plant and animal import violations.

“The past year has seen the Canada Border Services Agency make great progress in protecting our borders while keeping trade and travel moving,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in a Dec. 13 CBSA press release.

At Canada’s 1,200 ports of entry, the CBSA said it made 39,833 seizures, for a total of 24,078 seized goods, and it kept more than 24,053 prohibited weapons, including 1,009 firearms, off Canadian streets.

The agency said it seized 37,749 kg of drugs, including 2,662 kg of cocaine, 339 kg of heroin, and four kg of fentanyl, and also made 25 seizures of child pornography.

The CBSA said it “reunited 18 missing children with their loved ones” in partnership with the “Our Missing Children Program” — which aims to intercept and recover missing, abducted and exploited children and return them to their parents and legal guardians.

The CBSA said it continued to protect Canadian industry from unfair trade practices by administering the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), with more than $177 million in SIMA duties assessed “and approximately 30,000 Canadian jobs protected.”

The agency said it transitioned 23,044 importers and 262 customs brokers to the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) client portal “as part of a multi-year initiative to simplify overall importing processes through a modern self-service online interface.”

The CBSA said it aims to have all clients using the CARM portal, which was launched in May 2021, before the portal’s functionality changes when the CARM Release 2 goes live in October 2023. 

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