EXTRA Vol. 151, No. 1

Canada Gazette

Part Ⅱ

OTTAWA, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017

Registration
SOR/2017-183 September 1, 2017

EXPORT AND IMPORT PERMITS ACT

Order Amending the General Import Permit No. 1 — Dairy Products for Personal Use

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to subsections 8(1.1) (see footnote a), 8.3(3) (see footnote b) and 10(1) (see footnote c) of the Export and Import Permits Act (see footnote d), makes the annexed Order Amending the General Import Permit No. 1 — Dairy Products for Personal Use.

Ottawa, August 24, 2017

Chrystia Freeland
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Order Amending the General Import Permit No. 1 — Dairy Products for Personal Use

Amendments

1 Item 13.2 of the schedule to the General Import Permit No. 1 — Dairy Products for Personal Use (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

13.2 Milk protein substances with a milk protein content of 85% or more by weight, calculated on a dry matter basis, that do not originate in a NAFTA country, an EU country or other CETA beneficiary or Chile, Costa Rica or Israel and that are the subject of two commitments signed by the Government of Canada on June 12, 2008, one with the European Communities and the other with the Government of Switzerland, relating to the modification, in Canada’s schedule of concessions pursuant to the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization, to Canada’s concession on tariff item No. 3504.00.00 in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to the Customs Tariff with regard to those substances.

2 Item 18 of the schedule to the Permit is replaced by the following:

18 Non-alcoholic beverages containing milk (other than chocolate milk) and containing 50% or more by weight of dairy content and not put up for retail sale, that are classified under tariff item No. 2202.99.32 in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to the Customs Tariff.

Coming into Force

3 This Order comes into force on the day on which section 15 of the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Implementation Act, chapter 6 of the Statutes of Canada, 2017, comes into force, but if it is registered after that day, it comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the orders.)

Issues

Amendments are being made to the Import Control List (ICL), a regulation made under the authority of the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA), for the purposes of implementing commitments under the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between Canada and the European Union (EU); and reflecting changes to the Schedule to the Customs Tariff. These amendments necessitate consequential amendments to General Import Permit No. 1 – Dairy Products for Personal Use (GIP No. 1), General Import Permit No. 2 – Chickens and Chicken Products for Personal Use (GIP No. 2) and General Import Permit No. 100 – Eligible Agricultural Goods (GIP No. 100)

Background

Section 5 of the EIPA authorizes the Governor in Council to establish a list of goods and technology, called the Import Control List, which identifies goods and technology that are controlled for import into Canada. Unless otherwise stated, goods and technology on the ICL require a permit issued under the authority of the EIPA in order to be lawfully imported into Canada.

Subsection 8(1.1) of the EIPA authorizes the Minister of Foreign Affairs to issue to all residents of Canada a general permit to import goods and technology included in the ICL subject to such terms and conditions as described in the permit. These General Import Permits (GIPs) authorize the import of certain specified items by means of a simplified administrative procedure, rather than by the standard process of having to obtain a shipment specific permit.

CETA-related amendments

Certain goods originating from an EU country or other CETA beneficiary currently subject to import controls under the EIPA will have import permit requirements removed, as per Canada’s commitments under the agreement. As a result of the amendments to the ICL to remove these controls, three GIPs require consequential amendments to ensure concordance with these related EIPA regulations.

Customs Tariff-related amendments

Canada, along with over 160 other countries, is a contracting party to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, which governs the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (generally referred to as “Harmonized System” or simply “HS”). The HS is an international product nomenclature developed by the World Customs Organization (WCO) that contributes to the harmonization of customs and trade procedures. It is used extensively by governments, international organizations and the private sector for a range of purposes, including internal taxes, trade policies, monitoring of controlled products, rules of origin, freight tariffs, transport statistics, price monitoring, quota controls, compilation of national accounts, and economic analysis. The HS guides the numbering and description of approximately 8 500 tariff codes in the Schedule to the Customs Tariff.

The WCO updates the HS codes every five or six years to reflect developments in technology and trade patterns. The latest round of amendments came into force on January 1, 2017, and as a contracting party, Canada is required to adopt these amendments. Canada incorporated these amendments through the Order Amending the Schedule to the Customs Tariff (Harmonized System, 2017) [SOR/2016-253], which was made on September 23, 2016, with a coming-into-force date of January 1, 2017. As a result, consequential amendments to certain GIPs are necessary as part of Canada’s obligations under the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

Objectives

As a result of recent amendments to the ICL, GIPs No. 1, 2 and 100 are being updated to ensure concordance between each GIP and the ICL.

CETA-related amendments

A key objective of CETA is to eliminate trade barriers between Canada and the EU on most goods. Upon CETA’s provisional application, Canadian producers, manufacturers, exporters, importers, and consumers will benefit from the phased-in reduction or immediate elimination of tariffs on originating goods as per the tariff elimination schedule found in Annex 2-A (Tariff Elimination) of CETA.

Amendments to the ICL for beef and veal products (items 114, 115 and 116) and milk protein substances (item 125.2) relating to the implementation of certain CETA-related commitments require that consequential amendments be made to GIPs No. 1 and 100 to ensure concordance between the control text of the ICL and each of these regulations.

Customs Tariff-related amendments

Amendments to the ICL for certain dairy (item 130) and chicken and chicken products (items 94 to 99, 103 and 104) relating to recent amendments to Canada’s Schedule to the Customs Tariff necessitate that similar amendments be made to GIPs No. 1, 2 and 100 to ensure concordance between the ICL and each of these regulations. These consequential amendments are necessary as part of Canada’s obligations under the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System.

Description

Changes to General Import Permit No. 1

Item 13.2 (certain milk protein substances) of the schedule to GIP No. 1 is being amended to reflect changes the ICL removing the control status for imports of these products originating from an EU country or other CETA beneficiary as per Canada’s commitments under CETA.

Item 18 (certain milk containing beverages) of the schedule to GIP No. 1 is being amended by replacing the tariff item No. 2202.99.42 with 2202.99.32 in order to reflect changes to the ICL and Canada’s Schedule to the Customs Tariff.

Changes to General Import Permit No. 2

Items 1 to 4, 8 and 9 (certain chicken and chicken products) of the schedule of the French version of GIP No. 2 are being amended by replacing the word “domestique” with “Gallus domesticus” in order to reflect changes to the ICL and Canada’s Schedule to the Customs Tariff.

Changes to General Import Permit No. 100

Items 3 to 6, 10 and 11 (certain chicken and chicken products) of the schedule of the French version of GIP No. 100 are being amended by replacing the word “domestique” with “Gallus domesticus” in order to reflect changes to the ICL and Canada’s Schedule to the Customs Tariff.

Items 21 to 23 (certain beef and veal products) and 32.2 (certain milk protein substances) of the schedule of GIP No. 100 are being amended to reflect changes to the ICL by removing the control status for these products originating from an EU country or other CETA beneficiary as per Canada’s commitments under the agreement.

Item 37 (certain milk containing beverages) of the schedule of GIP No. 100 is being amended by replacing tariff item No. 2202.99.43 with 2202.99.33 in order to reflect changes to the ICL and Canada’s Schedule to the Customs Tariff.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to these proposals, as there are no changes in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to these proposals, as there are no costs (or insignificant costs) on small business.

Consultation

CETA-related amendments

During the CETA negotiations, officials undertook consultations with producers, industry associations, the provinces and territories and other interested parties.

Customs Tariff-related amendments

The Canada Border Services Agency represents Canada on the WCO Harmonized System Review Committee and consulted with relevant Canadian stakeholders during the WCO process. The adoption of the Order Amending the Schedule to the Customs Tariff (Harmonized System Conversion, 2017) [SOR/2016-253] necessitates consequential amendment, which implements the 2017 HS updates and modifies Canada’s tariff codes accordingly.

Rationale

In order to implement Canada’s CETA-related commitments and to ensure that Canada’s import control regime is in accordance with its commitments under the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, GIPs No. 1, 2 and 100 must be amended.

CETA-related amendments

GIPs No. 1 and 100 must be amended to reflect the recent changes to the ICL. The changes to the ICL related to certain beef and veal products (items 114, 115 and 116) and milk protein substances (item 125.2) include the removal of the control status for imports of these products originating from an EU country or other CETA beneficiary. These amendments are required to ensure concordance between the ICL and these GIPs.

Customs Tariff-related amendments

GIPs No. 1, 2 and 100 must be amended to reflect the recent changes to the ICL. The changes to items 94 to 98, 103, 104 and 130 of the ICL were required to ensure concordance between the HS codes, item descriptions in the ICL and Canada’s Schedule to the Customs Tariff. These amendments are required to ensure concordance between the ICL and these GIPs.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

Global Affairs Canada is responsible for the administration of the EIPA and its regulations, as well as the administration of the Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQs) for commodities controlled under these regulations. In the course of its administration of the TRQs and regulations, Global Affairs Canada will inform industry of the changes to the various GIPs via a broadcast message to registered users within our electronic permitting systems and via information updates on the Trade Controls Bureau website.

The Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are responsible for the enforcement of import controls.

Further information regarding the administration of import controls, including all service standards, is available on the Global Affairs Canada website.

Contact

Blair Hynes
Deputy Director
Trade Controls Policy Division (TIC)
Global Affairs Canada
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Email: Blair.Hynes@international.gc.ca
Telephone: 343-203-4353