A shipment that has been consolidated refers to multiple shipments that have been grouped together by a consolidator or freight forwarder and shipped to either an agent or a freight forwarder as a single shipment, with one bill of lading and reported to customs using a single cargo control document (one shipper and recipient).
To submit a consolidated house bill, a freight forwarder must be bonded. On the other hand, a non-bonded freight forwarder can only submit non-consolidated house bills, which must be released at the first port of arrival (FPOA).
As far as the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) is concerned, a shipment is considered consolidated when several smaller shipments are sent to the same location and grouped together as a single shipment by a carrier, consolidator, or freight forwarder. It is then shipped to a carrier, agent, or freight forwarder and reported to the CBSA with a single cargo control number (CCN).
On the other hand, deconsolidation occurs when a consolidated shipment is divided into individual shipments that are consigned to individual recipients and reported to the CBSA using individual cargo control documents (CCDs), known as supplementary reports.