ACI — Advance Commercial Information
ACI is the Canada Border Services Agency programme requiring carriers to transmit an electronic cargo and conveyance manifest before a truck arrives at the Canadian border, so CBSA can risk-assess the shipment in advance.
In plain terms.
ACI is the Canadian equivalent of ACE, and the same division of labour applies: the carrier files the conveyance and cargo manifest, the customs broker handles the release using a PARS number. CBSA requires the transmission at least one hour before arrival for highway carriers, which is the rule most often breached by a dispatcher trying to be helpful about a last-minute load.
For a carrier running both directions, ACI and ACE are two filings, two systems and two sets of rules covering the same truck on the same day. That duplication is precisely why border work tends to end up with one specialist person in the office, and why it stops when that person is away.
Who deals with it
The carrier, under its own carrier code. A broker cannot file it on the carrier's behalf.
When it shows up
At least one hour before the truck reaches the border, for highway shipments.
What goes wrong
Missing the one-hour rule, a cargo control number that does not match the broker's release, or a conveyance detail changed after transmission without an amendment.
How Lanexa handles it.
This lives in eManifest, where 29 capabilities are live.