Wanting to import leaves for personal use. I screwed up some of the last batch I ordered from the States in March 2024. So, I looked up the Excise Act, read through the interpretation, Ctrl+F'd "year", and found that year isn't defined. I can find "calendar month" in similar legislation, but I don't know if "year" means "calendar year". I even emailed CBSA and said, "Hey, year isn't defined. What is a year?", and got a terse, lecturing, and probably mostly copypasta'd response in which the word "year" didn't make a single appearance. Like, can I order now, or do I have to get my receipt from last year out and figure out which day I can place my order?
Shipping to Canada: What is a year?
- Thread starter Fishbulb
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SomeCigarGuy
Amateur Torcedor
I think I’m picking up what you’re putting down here. Like you are trying to find out if the 15kg limit is based on it resetting at the start or the year, the start of a new fiscal year, a year from maxing out at 15kg’s in 2024. Is that what you’re getting at? Might have to word how you talk to them slightly differently and explain it to them like they are 5 and learning English. I know, I tried contacting them back in July to get an importers licence and the worker seemed rather annoyed and never fully answered my questions either. Seemed extremely reluctant to give an importers licence to an individual not representing a business. Anyways I understand your frustration and I’m sure others on this site will be able to post all the links available on here. The community at FTT have a plethora of resources regarding the laws surrounding importing/exporting raw agricultural products, like tobacco leaf. Best of luck to you sir! Happy rolling.
pottsS
Well-Known Member
I've wondered the same, my best guess is that it would be a calendar year...Jan 1-Dec31. I've also wondered if they really take the time to keep track or do they just look at the package and determine it is legal and within the legal weights. I do just order 11pounds at a time...that is a lot of tobacco for personal use. I would think that 15 KG in an order would raise eyebrows an get extra scrutiny!
11 lbs? I know Ontario has limited to 3kg (6.6 pounds) as of early 2024, and I swore I read that the federal budget bill around the same time set a similar limit. 2.5kg? Whatever it was, I checked in the fall and didn't see any revision.
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pottsS
Well-Known Member
That could be right...I haven't ordered for a while and I ordered before I needed too because there were rumors of change!
I've run into the same problems with figuring out what "year" actually means in legal restrictions for importing stuff. Sometimes it's so unclear, and it feels like the agencies just dodge the question. For the leaves, I ended up just accepting Jan-Dec as the "year," even though nobody at CBSA would put that in writing for me either. They mostly seem to pay attention as long as shipments are small enough not to attract extra attention, but honestly, I still keep old receipts just in case.
When I moved once and needed to make sure my stuff was all legal for cross-border shipping, I dealt with paperwork issues like this and found professional help saved me a lot of hassle. If I ever do a cross-border move again, I'll probably check in with Three Movers, since they seem solid with international logistics and all the paperwork.
When I moved once and needed to make sure my stuff was all legal for cross-border shipping, I dealt with paperwork issues like this and found professional help saved me a lot of hassle. If I ever do a cross-border move again, I'll probably check in with Three Movers, since they seem solid with international logistics and all the paperwork.
