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Status Report on Major Crown Projects

eManifest

Description

eManifest represents Phase III of the Advance Commercial Information initiative, which is aimed at improving the CBSA's ability to detect shipments that pose a high or unknown risk to the safety and security of Canadians. eManifest will help the CBSA protect and secure Canadian frontiers by “pushing the border out” because it will require carriers to electronically submit all pre-arrival commercial information (including all cargo, conveyance and crew data) in the highway and rail modes of transportation and to electronically submit all advance secondary cargo and importer admissibility data for all modes (marine, air, rail and highway). This will enable the CBSA to more effectively analyze risk, ensure efficient border procedures and secure the international trade supply chain.

Project Phase

eManifest is currently in the analysis and design phase. During this phase, the following activities will be undertaken:

• Electronic receipt and automated risk assessment of pre-arrival data, including
  • primary and secondary cargo information;
  • conveyance information;
  • crew/driver information; and
  • importer release/admissibility information.

• Development of
  • alternative methods of communication (Internet portal);
  • cargo messaging or notification system;
  • linkages between cargo, importer admissibility and release information (including arrival status);
  • a multi-modal manifest suitable for all modes of transportation;
  • improved information for border services officers at the primary inspection line;
  • integrated examination results;
  • a mechanism for risk assessors to make pre-arrival admissibility recommendations;
  • trend analysis and pattern detection (supported by business intelligence and a data warehouse);
  • compliance management and data quality review;
  • management information reporting; and
  • sufficient capacity and infrastructure to meet established pre-arrival reporting time frames and volumes.

In addition, some of the activities listed above will be implemented or retrofitted for the air and marine modes because the activities were not included as part of Phase I and II of the Advance Commercial Information initiative. In particular:

• electronic receipt and automated risk assessment of pre-arrival data, including secondary cargo, crew and importer release/admissibility information;
• development of trend analysis and pattern detection;
• linkages between cargo, importer admissibility and release information (including arrival status); and
• a multi-modal manifest suitable for all modes of transportation.

Leading and Participating Departments and Agencies

Table 7.1: Leading and Participating Departments and Agencies

Leading and Participating Departments and Agencies

Lead department or agency	Canada Border Services Agency
Contracting Authority	Canada Revenue Agency Public Works and Government Services Canada
Participating Departments	n/a

Prime and Major Subcontractors

Table 7.2: Prime and Major Subcontractors

Prime and Major Subcontractors

Prime Contractor	n/a
Major contractors	n/a

Major Milestones

Table 7.3: Major Milestones

Major Milestones

Milestones	Date
Implementation release	June 2008
Implementation release	February 2009
Implementation build 2	December 2009
Implementation build 3	April 2010

Progress Report and Explanations of Variances

The Treasury Board granted effective project approval on November 29, 2007. The implementation of the in-transit pilot project was completed in June 2008. The following eManifest readiness deliverables were also released in June 2008:

• ability to extract U.S. marine cargo data on U.S.-destined cargo;
• Accelerated Commercial Release Operations Support System/Canadian Food Inspection Agency interface;
• notification system (carriers are notified when primary cargo reports are matched with secondary cargo reports);
• TITAN/Accelerated Commercial Release Operations Support System linkages;
• ability to validate appraisal quality data with the Harmonized System code; and
• ability to perform a historical search to view all details of the cargo/container/conveyance.

The following eManifest readiness deliverables are scheduled as part of the implementation release to be completed in February 2009:

• additional risk indicators for TITAN (marine mode);
• TITAN online updates (Phase II); and
• electronic data interchange rail reporting (Phase I).

Table 7.4: Progress Report and Explanation of Variances

($ thousands)

CBSA Branch	2006-07		2007-08
	Budget	Actual	Budget	Actual
Innovation, Science and Technology	4,660	4,660	46,169	30,656
Admissibility	296	296	708	368
Operations			392	1,087
Enforcement	302	302	723	140
Comptrollership	1,821	1,821	158	623
Human Resources	369	369	240	138
Strategy and Coordination	760	760	488	67
Total	8,208	8,208	48,878	33,079
Carry Forward				12,749

($ thousands)

CBSA Branch	2008-09		2009-10
	Budget	Forecast	Budget
Innovation, Science and Technology	90,019	56,771	81,356
Admissibility	584	1,325	584
Operations	2,733	1,251	6,555
Enforcement	584	335	584
Comptrollership	1,025	2,281	2,078
Human Resources	371	705	566
Strategy and Coordination	786	1,901	1,319
Carry forward for 2007-08	12,749
Total	108,851	64,569	93,042
Carry Forward		44,282

The spending profile was adjusted to reflect the figures in the effective project approval submission. The total amount spent during 2006–07 was on activities within the initiation, feasibility and planning phases of the project life cycle. Significant work on building and confirming the project scope and identifying high-level requirements for development are attributed to this expenditure.

Approximately 50 percent of expenditures are attributed to the implementation release of June 2008. An additional 30 percent will be used to complete the implementation release scheduled for February 2009 and part of the implementation build 2. The remaining 20 percent will be carried forward and distributed among the remaining implementation builds.

The carry-forward amount is attributed to a shift in the time required for the critical work of project planning activities, which necessitated the movement of procurement activities for infrastructure and hardware into future years. A large portion of these funds is associated with the procurement of a data warehouse.

Industrial Benefits (Business Goals)

• Enhanced prosperity: eManifest will contribute to a strong economy by facilitating the flow of low-risk trade in the high-volume, time-sensitive transborder environment.
• Enhanced security: Canadian society will be better protected from health, safety, security and terrorist threats as eManifest will “push the border out” in order to obtain the necessary data at the right time. eManifest uses sophisticated tools and technology and rigorous risk-assessment systems to interdict threats before goods arrive in Canada.
• Streamlined border processing: Obtaining and risk-assessing commercial information from trade-chain participants prior to the arrival of goods in Canada will minimize the processing required at the physical border, streamline the clearance process and reduce border congestion.
• Consistency of application: As eManifest will expand the existing requirements of marine and air carriers to those in the highway and rail environments, there will be a consistent application of risk assessment across all modes of transportation relative to CBSA requirements.
• Reduced costs of compliance: Members of the trade community will be able to leverage the investment they are making to comply with U.S. requirements since the program and systems requirements of eManifest will be harmonized with those of the United States to the greatest extent possible.
• Enhanced systems performance: Given the high volumes and compressed time frames associated with transborder trade, the CBSA will make enhancements to its information technology infrastructure, which will enhance system performance and reliability.

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