customs regulation

Canada is a trading nation and Canadian businesses rely on cross-border trade in goods and services. The swift and secure flow of goods into, and out of, Canada is critical to many businesses.

Drawing on a combined experience exceeding 80 years, McMillan LLP's customs experts in its International Trade Group are noted for their ability to develop and implement strategies that take advantage of opportunities to save duties and reduce risks in today's rapidly changing global marketplace. We are experienced in Canadian customs law matters and are able to act quickly to respond to the needs of Canadian and foreign importers and exporters. We help our clients minimize and eliminate their Canadian customs duties and secure duty relief, recovery, refunds, drawbacks and deferrals. On behalf of importers, we negotiate Canadian Customs Broker and Agency Agreements with brokers.

McMillan lawyers help their clients improve their import, export and supply chain processes, including the preparation of import and export compliance manuals. We assist clients to comply with, and represent them in cases involving, the various federal legislation and regulations relating to importing and exporting goods into and from Canada, such as the Customs Act, Customs Tariff, Special Import Measures Act, Food and Drugs Act (FDA), Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act (CPLA), Consumer Product Safety Act, Meat Inspection Act, Export and Import Permits Act Special Economic Measures Act and Textile Labelling Act (TLA), and the regulations passed under such legislation.

Our expertise extends to:

tariff classification, tariff treatment (origin) and value for duty  

• Assisting clients with tariff classification, including obtaining binding advance rulings;
• Advising on customs valuation, including related party transactions, deductions and additions to price paid or payable under the Transaction Value Method (TVM), alternative valuation methods to the TVM, and strategies to reduce valuation and resulting duties;
• Advising clients on rules of origin (ROO) and conditions to obtain preferential tariff treatments, such as under Least Developed Country Tariff (LDCT) and General Preferential Tariff (GPT), and under bilateral and multinational Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), to which Canada is a party, such as the Canada-Chile FTA, Canada-Israel FTA, Canada-Costa Rica FTA and NAFTA, including tariff shift requirements and regional value content calculations;
• Assisting clients with respect to establishing internal control systems and tracing to comply with the audit requirements to establish origin of goods for a preferential tariff treatment, such as LDCT and GPT, and under a FTA;
• Obtaining binding advance rulings as to whether goods "originate" in a FTA country under any FTA and are entitled to preferential tariff treatment under the FTA, and concerning other matters under a FTA, such as compliance with Country of Origin Marking under a FTA;
• Advising clients with respect to the completion, accuracy and validity of Certificates of Origin to claim a preferential tariff treatment, such as LDCT and GPT, and under a FTA;
• Acting as an observer in connection with NAFTA  and other FTA origin verifications; 
• Advising importers on making self-adjustments to correct tariff classification, tariff treatment and valuation errors within 90 days of an importer acquiring "reason to believe" that the importer has made such errors;
• Assisting importers to make voluntary disclosures of tariff classification, tariff treatment and valuation errors to avoid Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs), punitive specified interest and other punitive sanctions, such as seizure of goods or ascertained forfeiture in lieu thereof; and
• Dispute resolution of proposed and actual reclassifications, redeterminations of tariff treatment and reappraisals of valuation by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) at the audit or verification stage, administrative appeals to CBSA Recourse Directorate, appeals to the CITT and in the Federal Courts.
  

• Implementing supply chain security programs for clients (such as to register for and participate in Partners in Protection (PIP) with CBSA or C-TPAT in the USA);
• Assisting clients to design, develop, implement and enforce global regulatory compliance and security programs; and
• Advising clients on participating in CBSA programs to streamline and expedite import clearance, reporting and accounting, such as Customs Self Assessment (CSA), Free and Secure Trade (FAST), NEXUS and PIP, and assisting clients in registering and qualifying for such programs.
  

• Dispute resolution of various enforcement measures that may be taken by CBSA against an importer and exporter, such as AMPs, detainment of goods, seizure of goods, ascertained forfeiture and revocation of importing privileges in CSA, FAST, PIP and NEXUS programs; 
• Advising clients on CBSA's collection powers and negotiating collection terms with CBSA; 
• Advising clients on the CBSA and Canadian International Trade Tribunal customs redetemination (appeal)  process; and, 
• Advising on "best practices" to avoid CBSA enforcement measures.
  

other government programs (OGD) and consumer protection

• Assisting with importer licensing requirements aimed at protecting consumers;
• Advising clients on compliance with the labelling requirements under the FDA, CPLA, TLA, their regulations and other legislation and regulations;
• Advising on NAFTA and non-NAFTA Country of Origin Marking Requirements;
• Obtain rulings on whether import and/or export permits from the Export and Import Controls Bureau (EICB) of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and OGD are required, and obtain such permits, where applicable;
• Liaising and facilitating dialogue with government officials at the CBSA, Health Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Canadian Wheat Board, Industry Canada, EICB, DFAIT and OGD who administer, interpret and enforce various government programs impacting on the importing and exporting of goods;
• Assisting clients to obtain import quota allocations for designated products to qualify for preferential duty rate and gain market access;

• Conducting internal audits and reviews of customs compliance procedures;
• Preparing customs import and export compliance manuals;
• Advising clients concerning duty and GST relief and preference provisions to obtain reduced duty rates or duty-free treatment, duty drawback, refunds and deferral by various means, such as through the unique Canadian tariff classifications in Chapters 98 and 99 of the Customs Tariff, customs bonded warehouses, the Export Distribution Centre Program (EDCP) and Exporters of Processing Services (EOPS) Program;
• Advising on available options for recovering GST/HST paid on imported goods;
• Helping clients acquire surety bonds from authorized bonding companies to post as security for imports;
• Making submissions before House of Commons and Senate Committees regarding proposed import, export, tax and customs laws; and,
• Dealing with all of the above in M & A transactions (e.g., in the course of due diligence, drafting representations, warranties, covenants, indemnities, etc.).
  

November 2011 approaching the eleventh hour - Canada EU free trade negotiations update international trade bulletin

January 2009 Customs Valuation Update Presentation at Infonex Customs Compliance & Border Security Program

November 2008 Update on Commodity Tax and Customs Issues for Manufacturers and Exporters Presentation: Federated Press Transactional Commodity Taxation Course, November 13 and 14, 2008

January 2008 How to Withstand CBSA's Scrutiny of Import Origin Claims and Import/Export Controls Presented at: Customs Compliance and Border Security Best Practices in Regulatory Issues and Cross-Border Security, January 22 and 23, 2008

November 2005 Canadian Customs and Trade Law Developments McMillan Conference - Update 2005, Emerging Trends for Decision Makers

December 2004 What is the Essence of a Shower Curtain Set? (Article on Customs Tariff Classification Case) GST & Commodity Tax, Vol XVIII No.10

August 2004 The FCA's FosterGrant Decision (Article on Customs Valuation Case) Tradeweek - Vol. 115, No. 19

July 2004 Increased focus on goods imported from China The Lawyers Weekly

March 2004 Buying Commissions Non-Dutiable in CITT Case Tradeweek - Vol. 115, No.9

February 2004 New GST Rules for Imported Goods World Corporate Finance Review - Volume 4, No. 2

December 2003 Royalties and Value for Duty GST and Commodity Tax

August 2003 Living With 'AMPS' - The New Customs Penalty System Canadian Customs Advisory Bulletin

October 2002 Opportunities for Canadian Customs Duty Relief and Recovery on Royalties and Licence Fees McMillan Bulletin

June 19, 2002 Customs Valuation in Canada and Transfer Pricing in Canada "Commodity Tax for the General Tax Practitioner" conference, sponsored by the Canadian Association of Importers and Exporters

June 2001 Case Comment: Mattel Canada v. MNR - Customs Law Settled In Mattel: Or Is It? Canadian Tax Journal (2001), Vol. 49, No. 6

October 2000 Permanent Establishments: Tax Tips & Traps CICA Commodity Tax Symposium