Important Message for All Importers on Surety Changes

Our surety partners have made a change which restricts access to release prior to payment, non-resident GST and license bonds issued under the Quick Write Bond Portal. This means that all bonds, of any value, will now be issued on the basis of underwriting information, including financial statements and a full bond application. This is effective immediately and the following notice appears on the bond portal.

This new requirement will apply to any new Bond applications and all Bonds for renewal.

The decision was based on the ‘risk exposure’ potential. Surety in this economic situation say we need to make a business decision, and that is by not increasing our exposure by giving blanket underwriting approval on the importer program in the portal. They need to go back to ‘basics’ and underwrite the risk.   

Part of the rationale of the surety industry was based on the high number of Importer defaults against the bond and the extremely high payouts. They feel that during this Pandemic there could be an increase in claims.

In the event an Importer’s financials are not sufficient for approval by the surety company there will be 2 options: (1) Place a deposit on hand for the monthly average of duties and GST (2) Cash in advance prior to release. We can only work with option (1).

For those importers on a Bond or GST direct, keeping your monthly amounts current within the month will avoid removal from the programs and avoid the collection unit taking action.

If you require any additional information on the above kindly contact rmartinesz@taco.ca. 

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