Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Export and Import Permits Act (Miscellaneous Program): SOR/2026-151

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 160, Number 13

Registration
SOR/2026-151 June 22, 2026

EXPORT AND IMPORT PERMITS ACT

P.C. 2026-640 June 22, 2026

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, makes the annexed Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Export and Import Permits Act (Miscellaneous Program) under sections 6footnote a and 12footnote b of the Export and Import Permits Actfootnote c.

Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Export and Import Permits Act (Miscellaneous Program)

Import Certificate Regulations

1 (1) Subsection 4(1) of the Import Certificate Regulationsfootnote 1 is replaced by the following:

4 (1) An application for an import certificate shall be made on a form published by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.

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

(4) The completed application form, together with the information required under subsection (3), if any, shall be sent to the Minister.

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

5 (1) An application for an import certificate becomes an import certificate when it is signed by the Minister, and that certificate shall not be altered by anyone other than the Minister.

3 The portion of section 6 of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

6 Unless otherwise authorized by the Minister, no person shall

4 (1) The Regulations are amended by replacing “or on behalf of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce” and “or on behalf of the Chief of the Export and Imports Permits Division” with “the Minister” in the following provisions:

(2) The Regulations are amended by replacing “Chief of the Export and Import Permits Division” with “Minister” in the following provisions:

Import Control List

5 Item 174 of the Import Control Listfootnote 2 is replaced by the following:

174 Cereals, containing 25 per cent or more by weight of wheat, in grain form or in the form of flakes or other worked grains (except flour and meal), pre-cooked or otherwise prepared, not elsewhere specified or included, that are classified under tariff item No. 1904.30.10, 1904.30.21, 1904.30.29, 1904.30.61, 1904.30.62, 1904.90.10, 1904.90.21, 1904.90.29, 1904.90.61 or 1904.90.62 in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to the Customs Tariff.

6 Item 176 of the List is replaced by the following:

176 Sweet biscuits, waffles and wafers, containing 25 per cent or more by weight of wheat, that are classified under tariff item No. 1905.31.21, 1905.31.22, 1905.31.23, 1905.31.91, 1905.31.92, 1905.31.93, 1905.32.91, 1905.32.92 or 1905.32.93 in the List of Tariff Provisions set out in the schedule to the Customs Tariff.

Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations

7 The Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulationsfootnote 3 are repealed.

Export Control List

8 The heading before item 5102 and items 5102 and 5103 of the schedule to the Export Control List footnote 4 are repealed.

Softwood Lumber Products Export Allocations Regulations

9 The Softwood Lumber Products Export Allocations Regulationsfootnote 5 are repealed.

Coming into Force

10 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

Global Affairs Canada (GAC) recently completed a comprehensive review of the regulatory stock within its purview to ensure that these regulations continue to remain relevant, effective and aligned with legislation, current practices, and operational realities. Following extensive internal consultations during this two-year review process of over 200 regulations, GAC published its Regulatory Stock Review (RSR) Plan, which sets out the level of prioritization for the review of each regulation under its purview over a period of ten years (2024–2034).

The departmental review identified the following obsolete regulations and outdated provisions that have no current application and should be repealed.

Softwood Lumber Products Export Allocations Regulations

The Softwood Lumber Products Export Allocations Regulations set out considerations that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had to consider when allocating the quantity of softwood lumber products that may be exported from Canada to the United States (U.S.) under the Softwood Lumber Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America (2006 SLA).

The 2006 SLA entered into force on October 12, 2006, for a set period of seven years, with the possibility of a two-year extension, which the parties exercised in 2013. The agreement was extended until October 12, 2015, after which Canada relisted softwood lumber products on the Export Control List (ECL) to monitor exports of these products to the U.S. through the issuance of permits. The 2006 SLA included a “stand-still provision” that prevented the U.S. from initiating new trade actions against Canadian softwood lumber exports for a 12-month period following the expiry of the agreement. The standstill period ended on October 12, 2016. In November 2016, the U.S. softwood lumber industry requested the initiation of anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations, which led to the imposition of duties on Canadian softwood lumber products from early 2017 to present. Canada is actively challenging these duties under the dispute resolution provisions of the World Trade Organization, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement.

Given the expiration of the 2006 SLA on October 12, 2015, the provisions contained in these regulations have no current application and should be repealed.

Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations

The Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations were registered in 1987 in support of the Government’s stated policy relating to the tracking of certain steel products entering and leaving the country under the Steel Export Monitoring Program. To facilitate the Steel Export Monitoring Program, carbon steel goods were added to the ECL under the authority of the Secretary of State for External Affairs to collect information for carbon steel products by means of the General Export Permit (GEP) No. Ex. 82 – Carbon Steel Products. The Government of Canada no longer has a Steel Export Monitoring Program and as such, carbon steel products were removed from the ECL in 1990. As a result, the Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations as well as the GEP No. Ex. 82 became obsolete. The GEP No. Ex. 82 was repealed in 2007, but the Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations were not repealed due to an oversight. Given that these regulations no longer have any practical application, they should be repealed.

The departmental review also led to the identification of the following outdated provisions requiring amendments:

Export Control List

The Government of Canada no longer requires permits for the export of goods listed under items 5102 and 5103 of the ECL for the following reasons:

Item 5102 Pulpwood: The ECL lists separately Pulpwood under item 5102. This item used to comprise woodchips. However, since April 2013, based on GAC’s research, in consultation with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Natural Resources Canada’s Canadian Forest Service (CFS), the Government of Canada’s interpretation of pulpwood no longer includes woodchips and, accordingly, it ceased its practice of requiring export permits for woodchips.

The research determined that for both industry and CBSA, the term “pulpwood” refers to wood in log form, and not woodchips. The World Customs Organization’s Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (HS), which is used by CBSA for its tariff classifications, classifies “wood in chips or particles” and “logs for pulping (pulpwood)” under different codes. CFS domestic and international forestry sources’ definition of “pulpwood” generally includes only roundwood products (logs). Woodchips are reported separately.

Permitting woodchips was not included in any policy or regulation. Therefore, the discontinuance of the practice to require export permits for woodchips was implemented by notifying stakeholders directly on a case-by-case basis. No permits for woodchips have been requested since April 2013.

Furthermore, it has been the Government of Canada’s practice to issue permits for pulp logs under item 5101 Logs of all species of wood rather than item 5102 Pulpwood. Consequently item 5102 Pulpwood is no longer necessary.

Item 5103: Red Cedar: In June 1986, the U.S., following an Investigation by the International Trade Commission, found that increased imports of red cedar products were injuring the U.S. industry. As a result, the U.S. imposed an additional duty of 35% on imports of red cedar wooden shakes and shingles. In response, the Government of Canada added item 5103 to the ECL and started to control the export of all semi-manufactured red cedar products (e.g. blocks, bolts and boards) in the interest of maintaining the processing of shakes and shingles in Canada. However, following the termination of the import duty on June 7, 1991, the Government no longer requires permits for the export of this product. Since the rationale for placing Red Cedar in the ECL no longer exists, item 5103 has ceased to serve any purpose.

Import Certificate Regulations

The Import Certificate Regulations set out the conditions for issuing import certificates to Canadian residents. However, the regulations include outdated administrative references which need to be amended to reflect current practices. The Minister responsible for issuing import certificates is currently identified as the “Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce.” The Import Certificate Regulations also refer to an “Export and Import Permits Division” and to the “Chief of the Export and Import Permits Division.” These references are obsolete designations that no longer reflect the current organizational structure. The regulations update all foregoing references to “the Minister” further to the Interpretation Act paragraph 24(2)(d).

As well, the proposed regulations update the name of the Department. The Import Certificate Regulations refer to the “Department of Industry, Trade, and Commerce,” whose relevant functions have passed to Global Affairs Canada under its legal name, the “Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development.”

Finally, a few other minor, non-consequential changes were made to the language relating to import certificate applications to reflect modern drafting conventions while clarifying current procedural requirements.

Import Control List

The Import Control List (ICL) presents the goods over which Canada imposes restrictions when imported. The allowable quantities of goods included in the ICL can be determined unilaterally by Canada or through trade agreements such as with the World Trade Organization, as is the case with the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) for wheat, barley and their products. For many of these goods, the import controls are administered under a system of TRQs. Under Canadian TRQs, in any given year, a predetermined quantity (quota) of imports of a good can enter Canada at a lower rate of duty called “within access commitment” tariff (the WAC rate), while imports over this quantity are generally subject to higher rates of duty called “over access commitment” tariff (the OAC rate). When a good on the ICL is subject to TRQs, the ICL refers to the WAC and OAC rates in the Customs Tariff Schedule. When the quota under the WAC rate is filled, the OAC rate applies to Canadian imports of the same goods. Before the implementation of the CBSA Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) system in 2025, the WAC quota needed to be manually closed by CBSA whenever advised by GAC that the WAC quota was filled, thus opening the OAC rate for importers; now that the CARM system is in place, fewer manual interventions are needed in order to process the notification from GAC.

Among those goods administered under a TRQ, wheat, barley and their products appear on the ICL in sections 174 and 176. While the quota is not yet filled, these goods enter Canada under the authority of General Import Permit No. 20 - Wheat and Wheat Products and Barley and Barley Products (GIP 20) and the WAC rate applies. Conversely, once the quota is filled, these goods enter Canada under the authority of General Import Permit No. 100 - Eligible Agriculture Goods (GIP 100) and the OAC rate applies. The WAC for wheat, barley and their products appear in the ICL, referencing the correct WAC Customs Tariff Schedule numbers of 1904.30.10 and 1905.32.91 in sections 174 and 176, the corresponding OAC Customs Tariff Schedule numbers of 1904.30.29 and 1905.32.92 were inadvertently not included in the ICL when the codes were initially added, which is incoherent with its other provisions. While the omission was discovered previously, CBSA had instituted workarounds so that importers could still import their goods using the OAC provisions. This change is being implemented to ensure coherence between the WAC and OAC codes.

Objective

The objectives of the Regulations Amending and Repealing Certain Regulations Made Under the Export and Import Permits Act (Miscellaneous Program) [the Regulations] are to

  1. repeal two regulations that no longer have any practical application;
  2. remove two items from the ECL for which export permits are no longer required; and
  3. make minor technical, non-consequential amendments to increase clarity and reduce potential for confusion among stakeholders.

Description and rationale

Softwood Lumber Products Export Allocations Regulations

The Regulations repeal the Softwood Lumber Products Export Allocations Regulations. Canadian exporters of softwood lumber products to the U.S. are still required to obtain export permits under the Export and Import Permits Act and must comply with the Export Permits Regulations (Softwood Lumber Products 2015). However, following the expiry of the 2006 SLA, they are no longer subject to export charges or volume restraints. Given that there are no softwood lumber export allocations for Canada to administer, the repeal aligns with the lack of application of those instruments. The repeal is not expected to result in any incremental impacts or costs for Canadians or Canadian businesses.

Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations

The Regulations repeal the Export Permit (Steel Monitoring) Regulations, as the Steel Export Monitoring Program is no longer administered by the Government, and carbon steel products were removed from the ECL. The repeal is not expected to result in any incremental impacts or costs for Canadians or Canadian businesses.

Export Control List

The Regulations amend the ECL to remove items 5102 and 5103. Given that an export permit is no longer required for the export of semi-manufactured red cedar products or pulpwood, and that no permit applications have been received for such exports since 2013, these amendments are not expected to result in any incremental impacts or costs for Canadians or Canadian businesses.

Import Certificate Regulations

The Regulations amend the Import Certificate Regulations to update outdated names and titles. They also modernize the language relating to import certificate applications to better reflect current drafting conventions and clarify existing procedural requirements. These non-substantive amendments are intended solely to improve clarity for stakeholders and are not expected to result in any incremental impacts or costs for Canadians or Canadian businesses.

Import Control List

The Regulations amend the ICL by adding items 1904.30.29 and 1905.32.92 for consistency purposes. After consulting with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and CBSA, it was determined that amendments were required to add clarity, since once the TRQs for wheat, barley, or their products are filled in CBSA’s CARM system, HS 1904.30.10 and 1905.32.91 are no longer available and GIP No. 20 ceases to apply in their regard. Companies wishing to import such goods under the authority of GIP No. 100 to obtain the OAC rate of duty should then use HS 1904.30.29 and 1905.32.92 instead. These amendments are administrative in nature and, therefore, are not expected to result in any incremental impacts or costs for Canadians or Canadian businesses, since they will continue paying the same WAC and OAC rates, depending on whether the quota is filled. Importers may also continue to claim preferential treatment under the different free trade agreements instead of importing their goods under the wheat and barley TRQ.

Regulatory analysis

One-for-one rule and small business lens

The one-for-one rule applies, since two regulatory titles are repealed and are counted as titles “out.” Since these two regulations are no longer enforced, there is no associated administrative burden on business and element A of the one-for-one rule does not apply.

Analysis under the small business lens determined that the Regulations will not have any direct impacts on small businesses but is expected to improve clarity and certainty for stakeholders about the application or non-application of requirements.

Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards

These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.

Contacts

Jennifer Burleigh
Deputy Director
Softwood Lumber Division
Global Affairs Canada
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Telephone: 343‑203‑3721
Email: Jennifer.Burleigh@international.gc.ca

Judy Korecky
Deputy Director
Export Controls Policy Division
Global Affairs Canada
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Telephone: 613‑291‑0347
Email: Judy.Korecky@international.gc.ca

Laurel Blair
Deputy Director
Trade Controls Division
Global Affairs Canada
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Telephone: 613‑220‑9576
Email: Laurel.Blair@international.gc.ca

Anh Nguyen
Deputy Director
Trade Remedies Division
Global Affairs Canada
111 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
Telephone: 343‑549‑4750
Email: Anh.Nguyen@international.gc.ca