Proposed Changes to Canada’s Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations

Transport Canada recently closed a consultation on its proposed amendments to the Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations (“TDGR”) on May 27, 2019.[i] Canada regularly updates the TDGR in an effort to harmonize with the United Nations Model Regulations on the Transport of Dangerous Goods (“UN Recommendations”) as well as the United States’ dangerous goods framework …

New food safety rules can extend to carriers

[*ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN TODAY'S TRUCKING - July 20, 2018*] Canada’s Safe Food for Canadians Act and its regulations will officially become law on Jan. 15, 2019. And while it won’t apply outright to most carriers who transport food, some operations might still face new requirements. Essentially, the act is meant to streamline existing food safety …

Are You in Compliance with Canadian Cabotage Laws?

In the transportation industry, the word “cabotage” is used to refer to the transport of goods or passengers between two points in the same country by vehicle, trailer or container (“conveyance”) registered in another country and/or by a foreign driver or crew. Accordingly, there are two categories of cabotage laws: those affecting the equipment used …

The Carriage of Medical and Recreational Marijuana

With the increasing number of licensed producers of medical marijuana and the incoming legalization of recreational marijuana in Canada, carrier companies are starting to ask how they can become involved. For carriers who are interested in transporting medical and recreational marijuana, they may wish to obtain assistance in conducting a review of their current equipment, …

Who May Be Liable for Undue Suffering of Livestock during Transport?

When is a consignee liable for the acts of a third party driver that it retained? What is the scope of a consignee’s “control” over goods? When transporting animals intended for slaughter, under what conditions is “undue suffering” deemed to occur? The Federal Court considered all of these issues in its decision on March 7, …

CBSA’s eManifest Requirements became Mandatory for Freight Forwarders on November 7, 2016

On November 7, 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) eManifest requirements for freight forwarders to electronically submit advance house bill data became mandatory. The purpose of eManifest is to modernize and improve cross-border commercial processes. When fully implemented, it will require all carriers, freight forwarders and importers to send advance commercial information about shipments …

Password Protection When Crossing the Border

Can a Canadian Border Service Agency (“CBSA”) officer demand that you provide the passwords to your smartphone, laptop or other electronic devices when you are crossing the border into Canada? Unfortunately, the answer is not entirely clear. Providing passwords to electronic devices to CBSA officers could be problematic for those storing confidential or sensitive information …

New Obligations for Shippers and Carriers regarding Sanitary Transportation of Food for Consumption in the U.S.

This article provides an update with regard to the finalization of the proposed rule on Sanitary Transportation of Human and Animal Food (“the Rule”) (*1), which was initially discussed in the October 2015 Fernandes Hearn LLP Newsletter. The purpose of the Rule is to prevent practices that create food safety risks, such as failure to …

The Implications of Strike Action by the CTAO

*Initially published for the CTLA Annual Conference 2015 Between September 8, 2015 and September 16, 2015, members of the Container Trucking Association of Ontario (“CTAO”) engaged in strike action in front of container terminals in the Greater Toronto Area (“GTA”) as a demonstration of dissatisfaction with a lack of rate increases in the past ten …

Trucking Food Safety Program

The Trucking Food Safety Program (“TFSP”) may soon become the new standard for transporting food products. Carriers may want to consider following this voluntary program or implementing their own HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Controls Points) plan to increase their competitive advantage and facilitate their compliance with any future legislation adopting similar principles. The TFSP adopts …