Single Window Initiative -Advance Reporting of Information

The Single Window Initiative (SWI) is a single point for advance reporting of import information to CBSA and is the result of consultations with the trade community to make border release and other governmental agency (OGA) requirements and reporting easier.

Effective April 01 2019 current service options OGD PARS and OGD RMD will no longer be available.

Prior to SWI, not all information required by the other governmental agency (OGA) was provided in the customs release.  If the additional information was required the OGA would contact the importer of record directly.  Shipment information such as licenses and permits would need to be validated prior to import.

SWI will collect information related to the import for both CBSA and participating government agencies (PGA).

Participating Government Agencies in SWI to date include:

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission

Environment and Climate Change Canada

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Global Affairs Canada

Health Canada

Natural Resources Canada

Public Health Agency of Canada

Transport Canada

 All information required by CBSA and PGAs will be provided in a single report known as the Integrated Customs Declaration (IID) which has additional data fields than the current declaration. These additional fields capture information on the imported goods that the regulating PGA need to know.

For imported goods that are regulated by a PGA’s, CBSA will review the data provided in the IID:

  • Identify the appropriate PGA for the commodity as reported in the IID
  • Confirm the IID data fields against the required, conditional or optional data rationale elements of that regulating PGA
  • Share the data with the applicable PGA
  • Release decision is made and shared with the carrier

Some PGA programs co-regulate certain commodities.  Importers will need to ensure that all of the mandatory commodity importation data and image requirements are captured for all relevant PGA programs.

Single Window Initiative – Data Element Rationales – Participating Government Departments and Agencies (Data elements required at the time of release)

The following link provides a searchable list of HS tariff classification by PGA

Data Element Matching Criteria Tables by Participating Government Departments and Agencies