On April 20, 2016, the Government of Canada (the Department of Finance) tabled Bill C-15 “Budget Implementation Act 2016 No. 1”, which is an omnibus bill that implements some tax and other measures outlined in the 2016 Federal Budget. Since Bill C-15 is tabled by a majority government, the omnibus bill will surely be
April 2016
Speak Up NOW: Canada Announces Consultations of Trade Remedy System
Canada
LISTEN UP – THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT. In the 2016 Budget, the Government of Canada announced that it would be commencing consultations regarding Canada’s trade remedies system (that means Canada’s laws relating to antidumping and countervailing duties). On April 29, 2016, the Department of Finance launched a consultation on potential changes to…
Women Traveling With Expensive Purses/Handbags May Expect The CBSA To Ask Questions
There is a trend at Montreal Trudeau International Airport – Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) officers are asking women who return to Canada with expensive purses (Dior, Prada, Coach, Channel, etc.) to go to secondary inspection. In the Secondary Inspection Area, the CBSA officers accuse the woman of purchasing their purse/handbag on their most recent…
Canadian Manufacturers in the Agri-Food Sector Have an Opportunity to Eliminate Customs Duties
On April 22, 2016, the Federal Government of Canada (in particular, the Department of Finance) launched public consultations on the elimination of unrecoverable customs duties (MFN rate) payable on imported manufacturing ingredients by manufacturers in the agri-food sector. The consultation were first announced in the 2016 Federal Budget. The submissions are due on or before June 21, 2016.
What this means is that Canadian manufacturers (including foreign companies with a manufacturing operation in Canada) may make written submissions to the Department of Finance to request the elimination of customs duties (MFN rate) on imported food manufacturing inputs. Customs duties are an unrecoverable cost of the manufacturer. The elimination of the duties will reduce the cost of production and cause the manufacturer to be more competitive in Canada and in international markets. In addition, food costs for Canadian consumers of processed food products will be reduced as the manufacturer can charge less for the processed foods (if made with some imported food ingredients).
The Government of Canada proposed to reduce to “Free” the MFN rates of customs duty of tariff items listed in Table 1 (which also appears after the page break in this blog post). Some of the food inputs listed in Table 1 include certain edible vegetables, roots and tubulars; certain edible fruits and nuts; certain spices; certain cereals and grains; certain products used in the milling industry; certain flours, malts, starches and wheat gluten; certain flours milled from seeds; certain animal or vegetable fats and oils; etc.
However, the Department of Finance would like input from the food processors who import these goods before they will make the decision to eliminate the duties.
In addition, the Department of Finance will also accept views on other tariff items that could be considered in the context of possible further tariff elimination initiatives designed to assist Canadian industry. For example, corn is not listed in Table 1 and is imported into Canada for further manufacturing in the agri-food sector (e.g., into corn syrup).
The submissions must include, at a minimum, the following information:
- Canadian company/industry association name, address, telephone number, and contact person.
- Relevant eight-digit tariff item(s) and description of the goods of particular interest.
- Reasons for the expressed support for, or concern with, the proposed tariff elimination, including detailed information substantiating any expected beneficial or adverse impact.
- If concern is expressed with respect to the proposed tariff elimination for one or more eight-digit tariff item(s), please provide views on ways to alleviate such concerns (e.g. limiting tariff elimination to certain end uses, gradual tariff elimination over a longer time period).
- Please identify if information provided in the submissions is commercially sensitive.
If submissions are prepared for an item not listed in Table 1, the submissions should demonstrate the benefit to Canada for the elimination. Any company that will increase Canadian jobs by hiring more workers or building another plant should consider make those benefits known in the submissions.
If the submissions are accepted and the tariffs are eliminated on the food processing inputs, the Canada Border Services Agency will no longer collect unrecoverable customs duties in respect of the goods. Any applicable goods and services tax (“GST”) would still be payable, but would be recoverable if the manufactured goods are taxable or zero-rated.
We would be pleased to assist Canadian manufacturers or foreign manufacturers with Canadian food processing operations 9existing or proposed) to prepare their submissions. This is an opportunity that has a small window and long term benefits.Continue Reading Canadian Manufacturers in the Agri-Food Sector Have an Opportunity to Eliminate Customs Duties
Don’t Cross the Canada-US Border with a Fake/Real Grenade
Shielded but Not Covered – Privacy Demands Better Protection
On April 13, 2016, the Article 29 Working Party took action which some found surprising and others predicted. It found the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield did not contain adequate protections and needs further improvement. The Working Party’s statement can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/article-29/press-material/press-release/art29_press_material/2016/press_release_shield_en.pdf.
While acknowledging the Privacy Shield contains “significant improvements” over the previous Safe Harbor,…
TFTEA – Export Focus
In earlier editions of this blog, we first summarized the new law and then addressed the intellectual property rights changes it contained. Now, we turn to the export focused provisions in the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (“TFTEA”). Mainly those export provisions have to do with information collection for targeting. However, new initiatives for…
TFTEA – CBP Organizational Structure
Among its many provisions, the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (“TFTEA” or the “Act”), H.R. 644, formally establishes U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) as a department within Homeland Security (“DHS”). Section 802(a) contains the key provisions. That section amends Section 411 of the Homeland Security Act and the U.S. Code to reflect the…
The Art of Self Defense
Corporate compliance programs come in all shapes and sizes and apply whether your company is privately owned or publicly traded. These internal controls take the form of accounting and audit procedures, import-export/regulatory policies, employment guidelines, ethics/anti-corruption initiatives and so on. The intent of any compliance program is to ensure that employees know what is expected…