Coronavirus (COVID-19) Alert

COVID-19 – Importing Medical Supplies into Canada

Toronto, April 1, 2020

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) have issued Customs Notice 20-12 "COVID-19: Tariff Classification and Other Information to Import Medical Supplies", to provide useful information relating to the commercial import of medical supplies, as defined by the World Customs Organization (WCO).

This notice provides a detailed list of COVID-19 medical supplies along with available duty and tax relief, in certain circumstances, and how to assess the value for duty of donated supplies:

• Customs Notice 20-08: Imported Goods for Emergency Use in Response to COVID-19
• Memorandum D10-15-26: Goods to be employed in a Noxious Atmosphere
• Customs Valuation Handbook: How To Establish The Value For Duty of Imported Goods

In addition, the CBSA have requested that all customs release requests for these COVID-19 medical supplies include a notation of "URGENT – COVID-19" in the description of goods.  For Canadian customs clients of Universal Logistics, we have updated all applicable lines in our client databases to include this notation on release requests to the CBSA.

For more information please visit our web site for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Alerts along with COVID-19 trade related FAQs.

Brian Rowe
Director – Customs Compliance & Regulatory Affairs