MPs have been warned of another, costlier ArriveCan-style app with a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) plan to digitize $32 billion in yearly tariff collections. Customs officials wrote to the Commons Trade Committee warning of the upcoming computer system, which was scheduled for May 13 but has been delayed to October, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. The border agency’s program, Assessment And Revenue Management System, also called CARM, has been in the works since 2016. “We have general concerns regarding the decision to implement it in the first place,” the Customs and Immigration Union wrote. “It seems to follow the same pattern established by previous projects, notably ArriveCan, where a rushed system is deployed as a solution to a non-existent problem.”The project originally budgeted at $370 million has cost $526 million to date, by CBSA estimate.The immigration union in its petition to the trade committee said despite years of planning “among front line border officers there appears to be a near-universal consensus about the lack of sufficient training.” Customs officers were picking up piecemeal guidance from managers “who have little experience with commercial operations,” border officials wrote.“What happens if a mistake, one that could easily be avoided through proper training, is made?” asked the union. “Errors can have a wide range of impacts on schedules, money lost and people’s standing with the Agency.”“CARM was not designed for the Agency (CBSA). It is based on an accounting solution originally developed by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and little effort was made to properly adapt it for the Agency.”This is not the first warning the committee has heard on the matter. MPs and shippers have also warned of another ArriveCan, the failed 2020 CBSA app for cross-border travelers ballooned to $59.5 million in costs with ongoing investigations by auditors, police and Commons committees.CBSA executive VP Ted Gallivan in March 24 testimony at the trade committee acknowledged only 56,000 of 200,000 Canadian shippers had registered for digitized tariff payments though CARM was to be mandatory. “We understand transitioning to CARM is a big change,” testified Gallivan.“With any big change there is apprehension and we acknowledge there are partners in the business community who are concerned about this coming change,” said Gallivan. Some $564 billion worth of goods cross the border annually.The Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters earlier told MPs the program would not work. “The system is not ready,” testified Kim Campbell, past chair of the association. “We have no confidence in where we are now.”
