Notice From CBSA – “Declaration Accepted” Message Changes for External Clients

The following is a notice received from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) that will be most relevant for transportation providers and warehouse operators. Below is the notice as received from the CBSA.

Buckland is pleased to share this update and we hope that this information will be useful and beneficial. As a customer-focused company, we provide you with a single source of unmatched Customs Brokerage (Canadian, US, Mexican), Trade Managed Solutions, Freight Forwarding, Trade Technologies and Warehousing/Distribution Services. If you have questions, please reach out to Buckland today.


With the next release of eManifest functionality expected to be available March 4-5, 2017, the timing of the Release Notification System (RNS) class of Notices (RNS, ANS, SNS, QNS) will change. These timing changes have been made to align the Legacy Notices with the eManifest Notices.

Two notable changes are:

1. Previously, an RNS Declaration Accepted (“Dec Accept”) Notice was sent to clients when a Release Request had been accepted and a decision had been made. This decision would be made on the Release Request and independently of other associated documents. The new eManifest design model and the supporting legislation now requires that Advance Commercial Information(ACI) cargo be submitted prior to arrival under most circumstances. Under the new eManifest design model, decisions may not be made on Release Requests until related ACI cargo is accepted in CBSA systems. This means that the Dec Accept Notice may not be sent out until both the Release Request and the ACI cargo are on file.

Due to this change, the Dec Accept Notice may no longer be sent out when only Release Requests are on file (such as with re-manifests).

2. Previously, for shipments that had been referred for examination (REFER SEC) prior to arrival, the Warehouse Operators that subscribed to RNS notices would be notified of the Request For Examination through an RNS Refer To Secondary Notice, while other trade chain partners involved in the shipment would have received an RNS Declaration Accepted notice informing them that a decision has been made on the release request. Under the new D5A design model for RNS Notices in eManifest, the Warehouse Operators will no longer receive the Refer to Secondary until the cargo has been arrived at its destination.

Due to this change, Warehouse Operators that have subscribed to the transporting Carrier’s RNS profile will now receive the RNS Dec Accept when a decision has been made on the release request and the cargo is on file prior to arrival.