Caboo Paper Products is a Canadian company involved in the manufacture, import, and distribution of eco-friendly paper products. Caboo brand paper is made from bamboo and sugar cane, which are sustainable resources, unlike paper products made from trees, thereby addressing the deforestation concerns that we all have. We believe that the market we are creating could very well pave the way for a revolution in this industry, and we can proudly say it came from a local Canadian business from the grassroots level.
Our first point concerns the challenges we are continually facing with CBSA policy when clearing product into the country by ocean freight. The expense and delays we face have a significant impact on our ability to compete and succeed in this market.
Second, we would like to urge our government to offer increased support and funding toward Canadian companies that are involved in environmentally sustainable options. We believe this is a new global economy. We must adapt to the concerns we all face with the environment. The ability to adapt should rest not only on the government’s shoulders, but on those of the entrepreneurs of Canada who offer innovation.
Last, we believe that small to medium-sized companies involved in import and export trade should also be included on Canadian trade missions abroad. A Statistics Canada study says that small and medium-sized businesses account for 54.2% of our GDP. We believe there should be a better representation for us when promoting Canadian business abroad.
On point one, though we understand and support the importance of thorough inspection of product being imported into Canada, the issue facing us is that CBSA examination and related costs are passed on to the importers, regardless of their size or the value of the product they are importing. These charges could be $2,500 to $3,000 per container, which in our market reflects around 25% to 30% of the entire value of our shipment. In many cases, the cargo is not even examined at port but removed by truck to a bonded facility at the discretion of CBSA. In these instances, our containers can be examined for days, even weeks. During this time, the ocean freight line that actually owns the container shelves gives us a limited amount of time, or free days, to return the containers, regardless of our situation. Overall, we could potentially be charged not only the entire examination fee, but the penalty from the steamship line, which has cost us upwards of $150 a day per container. As a small importer trying to compete in this market, we need to succeed, and we feel that we need some help in this area.
Another point is in terms of government support. Because we are an international trading company, we trade in U.S. dollars, and when our dollar drops, our costs go higher. Basically, we could be working at a loss on an ongoing basis as long as the Canadian dollar is low. That, along with the CBSA issue we are facing, can eat up our entire profit.
Also, as small to medium-sized companies, we feel we could use support with funding when it comes to taking on a large retailer. As a small manufacturer, we have to get into some bigger markets in order to grow. A retailer such as Costco might take us at some point, and we'll need to put a large quantity on the water, perhaps 30 containers. Where do we get the financing to do that? Some kind of support from the government, perhaps a low-interest loan, would help us greatly, as opposed to going deeper into our personal finances to try to fund an opportunity like that. As a growing business, we don't want to pass up a large opportunity.
The last point is that we would like to have more exposure to international trade when the governments are going abroad with delegations. For example, when a federal trade delegation travels abroad with business leaders, small to medium-sized companies should be given the opportunity to join and network with foreign leaders to further grow their business and enhance their reputation.
Those are the three points.