Vol. 148, No. 21 — October 8, 2014

Registration

SOR/2014-205 September 17, 2014

CUSTOMS TARIFF

Regulations Amending the Marking of Imported Goods Regulations

The Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, pursuant to subsection 19(2) (see footnote a) of the Customs Tariff (see footnote b), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Marking of Imported Goods Regulations.

Ottawa, September 12, 2014

STEVEN BLANEY
Minister of Public Safety and
Emergency Preparedness

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE MARKING OF IMPORTED GOODS REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. Subsection 4(2) of the Marking of Imported Goods Regulations (see footnote 1) is replaced by the following:

2. Section 6 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

6. If the word “Canada”, “Canadian” or “canadien” or any abbreviation of it, or the name of any country or place other than the country of origin of the goods appears on any goods elsewhere than in the country of origin marking, and the presence of the word can be expected to mislead the ultimate purchaser or the ultimate recipient, as the case may be, the country of origin marking shall be located in close proximity to that word and shall contain the expression “made in”, “produced in” or “printed in” or any other expression, in any of the languages used in accordance with section 4 that indicates to the ultimate purchaser or to the ultimate recipient, as the case may be, the country of origin of the goods.

COMING INTO FORCE

3. These Regulations come into force on the day on which section 39 of the Canada–Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act, chapter 14 of the Statutes of Canada, 2014, comes into force, but if they are registered after that day, they come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement (CHFTA) permits the marking of origin of a good imported under the CHFTA to be made in English, French or Spanish. The Marking of Imported Goods Regulations (the Regulations) specify that the marking of imported goods can be done in English or French.

It is therefore necessary to make amendments to the Regulations to allow the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to administer the marking of imported goods procedures that were negotiated in the CHFTA.

Background

Following extensive domestic consultations, formal free-trade negotiations between Canada and Honduras were launched on November 21, 2001. The CHFTA was signed on November 5, 2013, and came into force on October 1, 2014.

As part of the CHFTA, Canada agreed to allow goods imported from Honduras to be marked indicating the country of origin in English, French or Spanish.

Section 35.01 of the Customs Act states: “No person shall import goods that are required to be marked by any regulations made under section 19 of the Customs Tariff unless the goods are marked in accordance with those regulations.”

The Regulations are made under the authority of subsection 19(2) of the Customs Tariff, and prescribe the manner in which imported goods must be marked in order to be imported into Canada. As a result, goods, including those imported under the CHFTA, must meet the marking requirements set out in the Regulations.

Objectives

To amend the Regulations to allow goods imported from Honduras to be marked in English, French or Spanish.

Description

Prior to these regulatory amendments, subsection 4(2) of the Regulations stipulated that non-North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) goods were required to be marked in English or French.

Subsection 4(2) of the Regulations is now amended, and a new subsection 4(3) is added to the Regulations. The Regulations still require non-NAFTA goods to be marked in English and French, but now specify that applicable goods from Honduras may be marked in English, French or Spanish.

In addition, a consequential amendment to section 6 of those Regulations is made to broaden its application to capture the newlycreated provisions in section 4. Moreover, three further housekeeping amendments of a non-consequential nature were made to section 6.

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to this proposal, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to this proposal, as there are no costs on small business.

Consultation

Prior to launching the negotiations for the CHFTA, Canadian manufacturers, importers and exporters were consulted extensively; furthermore, these stakeholders were kept informed of developments throughout the negotiation process for the CHFTA.

Rationale

Canada’s free trade agreements are put into practice and enforced by a network of regulations (including the Regulations) that, taken together, implement the customs procedures negotiated as part of the CHFTA into Canadian law.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

The CBSA will continue to monitor compliance with the Regulations in the course of its regular administration of customs and tariff-related legislation and regulations.

Contact

Caley Sayers
Trade and Anti-Dumping Programs Directorate
Canada Border Services Agency
150 Isabella Street, 11th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5