A BW sufferance warehouse is a primary public facility licensed by Revenue Canada for the receipt of in bond freight
imported by highway. These facilities are serviced by Revenue Canada and are licensed when a demonstrated need exists for either a new or additional highway sufferance warehouse in a customs area.
A CW sufferance warehouse is a secondary facility for the private use of an operator for the deconsolidation of in bond freight arriving by any mode of transportation. In the case of highway freight, goods must first be reported to the primary BW highway warehouse before being transferred to a CW warehouse for customs clearance. These facilities are operated by freight forwarders, consolidators and deconsolidators for freight carried in their system.
In reference to part (a) of the question, an increasing number of companies have been applying for CW sufferance warehouse licences in the Toronto area. Faced with limited resources, local Revenue Canada officials introduced a system to allow freight forwarders to backhaul goods requiring customs examination to the BW sufferance warehouse rather than having Revenue Canada provide the service to the CW facility. This arrangement has permitted the department to license additional CW warehouses since no on site customs service is required for examination purposes.
In reference to part (b) of the question, the policy on the licensing of BW highway sufferance warehouses is one per customs area, with exceptions made for high volume locations. Current departmental policy provides for the licensing of an additional type BW facility if the volume of commercial highway traffic handled at a particular customs office exceeds 40,000 shipments per year over a sustained period of time and the potential operator demonstrates the ability to attract a minimum of 20,000 shipments per year.
There is no volume of business criteria for CW facilities, however the department must be able to service them within existing resource levels.