What is a Close Message?

What is a Close Message?

Close Message establishes a link between the previous CCN and the lower-level house bill CCNs in the chain of cargo control numbers.
All associated eHBLs must be accepted on file before Close Message is accepted by CBSA. CBSA will know that all eHBLs on a master have been submitted when the forwarder submits a Close Message on a previous CCN.

1) The freight forwarder is required to provide a Close Message to CBSA. The close message is used to initiate the link between the parent and child documents in CBSA's system.

2) If the house bill submission has a further deconsolidation (Master Loader) the Consolidation Indicator must be set to Yes.

3) The Master Consolidator must submit an HBL to CBSA for every shipment that they have in the container. The HBL may show the shipper and consignee as the NVOCC. A Master Loader must be bonded in Canada to submit a consolidated bill.

4) The Master Loader must submit a closing message to CBSA listing the HBLs they have filed under the carrier's primary CCN. 

5) The underlying NVOCC must submit a closing message to CBSA referencing the Master Loader’s HBL.

All House bills must have reached the “Accepted” status to be subsequently referenced in a Close Message. A submitted Close Message quoting a CCN that is either not on file with the CBSA, that is quoted on another Close Message that belongs to another freight forwarder or that is currently not in Accepted status will be rejected. The same rule applies to the previous CCN, if it is not in Accepted status, the Close Message will be rejected.