Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Special Import Measures Act (Miscellaneous Program): SOR/2020-65

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 154, Number 9

Registration

SOR/2020-65 April 7, 2020

SPECIAL IMPORT MEASURES ACT

P.C. 2020-218 April 3, 2020

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of International Trade, pursuant to subsection 77.013(1)^{footnote a}, section 77.018^{footnote b}, subsection 77.023(2)^{footnote c} and section 77.035^{footnote d} of the Special Import Measures Act^{footnote e}, and on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance pursuant to subsection 97(1)^{footnote f} of that Act, makes the annexed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Special Import Measures Act (Miscellaneous Program).

Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Special Import Measures Act (Miscellaneous Program)

Special Import Measures Regulations

1 The heading of Part II.01 of the Special Import Measures Regulations^{footnote 1} is replaced by the following:

Dispute Settlement Respecting Goods of a CUSMA Country

2 The definition Secretariat in section 36.01 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

Secretariat means the Secretariat established pursuant to paragraph 1 of Article 30.6 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement. (Secrétariat)

3 (1) The portion of section 36.02 of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

36.02 For the purposes of the definition government of a CUSMA country in subsection 2(1) of the Act, the following are prescribed departments, agencies or other bodies:

(2) Subparagraph 36.02(b)(i) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(i) in respect of Mexico, the Secretaría de Economía (Secretariat of Economy), and

(3) Subparagraph 36.02(c)(i) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(i) in respect of Mexico, the Secretaría de Economía (Secretariat of Economy), and

4 Section 36.04 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

36.04 For the purposes of subsection 77.012(1) of the Act, notice of an intention to make an application or to appeal in respect of a definitive decision that is to be given to every person who, but for section 77.012 of the Act, would be entitled to make such an application or to appeal shall be given by publication in the Canada Gazette of a notice to that effect and, if service of such a notice is required pursuant to the rules of procedure adopted or maintained pursuant to paragraph 14 of Article 10.12 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, by service of that notice in the prescribed manner under those rules.

5 Subsection 36.05(1) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

36.05 (1) In this section, administrative record has the same meaning as in Article 10.8 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement.

6 The portion of paragraph 36.06(b) of the Regulations before subparagraph (i) is replaced by the following:

(b) where the grounds for an extraordinary challenge proceeding before the committee are the grounds set out in subparagraph 13(a)(i) and paragraph 13(b) of Article 10.12 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement,

7 Section 50 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

50 For the purposes of subsection 59(3.1) of the Act, a manufacturer, producer or exporter of goods of a CUSMA country who filed a request for a re-determination is a prescribed person.

8 (1) The portion of section 53 of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

53 For the purposes of the definition government of a CUSMA country in subsection 2(1) of the Act, the following are prescribed departments for the purposes of subsections 56(1.01), 58(1.1), 59(3.1) and 70(1) to (3) of the Act:

(2) Paragraph 53(b) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(b) in respect of Mexico, the Secretaría de Economía (Secretariat of Economy).

Members of Panels (NAFTA) Regulations

9 The long title of the Members of Panels (NAFTA) Regulations^{footnote 2} is replaced by the following:

Members of Panels (CUSMA) Regulations

10 Section 1 of the Regulations and the heading before it are repealed.

11 Section 2 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

2 In these Regulations, panel roster means the roster established under paragraph 1 of Annex 10-B.1 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement. (liste des candidats)

12 Section 3 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

3 For the purposes of paragraph 1 of Annex 10-B.1 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, the persons listed in the schedule to these Regulations are named to the panel roster to serve as candidates for selection to panels, during pleasure, for a period of 10 years, beginning on the day on which this section comes into force.

13 (1) The portion of subsection 4(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

4 (1) Subject to subsection (2), where, under paragraph 2 of Annex 10-B.1 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, a person is to be appointed by Canada to serve as a member of a panel or, where, under paragraph 3 of that Annex, it is decided by lot that Canada shall select a person to serve as a fifth member of a panel, the person shall be selected from the panel roster by a board that

(2) Subsection 4(2) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

(2) Where, under paragraph 2 of Annex 10-B.1 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, a person is to be appointed by Canada to serve as a member of a panel, the board referred to in subsection (1) may select a person who is not named to the panel roster if the person meets the criteria set out in paragraph 1 of that Annex.

Members of Committees and Special Committees (NAFTA) Regulations

14 The long title of the Members of Committees and Special Committees (NAFTA) Regulations^{footnote 3} is replaced by the following:

Members of Committees and Special Committees (CUSMA) Regulations

15 Section 1 of the Regulations and the heading before it are repealed.

16 Section 2 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

2 In these Regulations, committee roster means the roster established under paragraph 1 of Annex 10-B.3 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement. (liste des candidats)

17 Section 3 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:

3 For the purposes of paragraph 1 of Annex 10-B.3 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, the persons listed in the schedule are named to the committee roster as candidates for selection, to serve during good behaviour on committees and special committees, for a period of five years, commencing on the day on which this section comes into force.

18 The portion of section 4 of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

4 Where, pursuant to paragraph 1 of Annex 10-B.3 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, a person is to be selected by Canada to serve as a member of a committee or special committee, the person shall be selected from the committee roster by a board that

Coming into Force

19 These Regulations come into force on the day on which section 98 of the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act, chapter 1 of the Statutes of Canada, 2020, 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

On November 30, 2018, Canada, the United States and Mexico signed the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA or the “Agreement”), with some further provisions agreed between the three countries on December 10, 2019. The CUSMA will replace the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) that currently provides for free trade on the continent. In order to implement the CUSMA, the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement Implementation Act (the “Act”) was tabled in the House of Commons on January 29, 2020, and received Royal Assent on March 13, 2020

In order to implement the CUSMA outcomes concerning trade remedies (including binational dispute settlement panels), consequential amendments to the Special Import Measures Regulations, the Members of Committees and Special Committees (NAFTA) Regulations, and the Members of Panels (NAFTA) Regulations are required.

The Members of Committees and Special Committees (NAFTA) Regulations and the Members of Panels (NAFTA) Regulations establish the processes to appoint members for NAFTA Chapter 19 Extraordinary Challenge Committees, Special Committees, and binational panels. The Special Import Measures Regulations include provisions relevant to the binational panel dispute settlement mechanism as well as certain transparency provisions related to CUSMA.

Objective

The objective of these amendments is to implement the CUSMA outcome concerning trade remedies.

Description and rationale

The Members of Committees and Special Committees (NAFTA) Regulations, the Members of Panels (NAFTA) Regulations, and the Special Import Measures Regulations are amended to replace NAFTA references with the appropriate CUSMA references. Consequential amendments have also been made to the Special Import Measures Regulations to update the name of the Mexican Secretariat responsible for trade remedy investigations.

These consequential amendments allow Canada to maintain the NAFTA anti-dumping and countervailing duty dispute settlement mechanism as well as certain NAFTA transparency obligations that were incorporated into CUSMA. While the amended regulations will retain the existing framework by replacing NAFTA references with CUSMA references, the amendments themselves do not establish or modify the dispute settlement process and transparency provisions.