ARCHIVED — Order Amending the Import Control List

P.C. 2011-901 August 30, 2011

Whereas, in the opinion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, certain carbon and specialty steel products are traded in world markets in circumstances of surplus supply and depressed prices;

Whereas a significant proportion of world trade in those products is subject to control through the use of non-tariff measures;

Whereas the Governor in Council is satisfied that it is advisable to collect information with respect to the importation of those products;

And whereas those products were included on the Import Control List (see footnote a) by Order in Council P.C. 2008-1056 of June 12, 2008 (see footnote b), which came into force on September 1, 2008, and will be deemed by subsection 5.1(2) (see footnote c) of the Export and Import Permits Act (see footnote d) to be removed from that list on August 31, 2011;

Therefore, His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to subsection 5.1(1) (see footnote e) and section 6 (see footnote f) of the Export and Import Permits Act (see footnote g), hereby makes the annexed Order Amending the Import Control List.

ORDER AMENDING THE IMPORT CONTROL LIST

AMENDMENT

1. Items 80 and 81 of the Import Control List (see footnote 1) are replaced by the following:

80. Carbon steel products including semi-finished products (ingots, blooms, billets, slabs and sheet bars), plate, sheet and strip, wire rods, wire and wire products, railway-type products, bars, structural shapes and units, pipes and tubes, but excluding the specialty steel products referred to in item 81.

81. Specialty steel products: stainless steel flat-rolled products (sheet, strip and plate), stainless steel bar, stainless steel pipe and tube, stainless steel wire and wire products, alloy tool steel, mold steel and high-speed steel.

COMING INTO FORCE

2. This Order comes into force on September 1, 2011.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issue and objectives

Canada has had a program to monitor steel imports since 1986. The program has been renewed for two- or three-year periods from that date. The current regulatory authority for this program will expire on August 31, 2011.

The elimination of import monitoring would remove an important source of information used extensively by steel producers to track prices, volumes, and origins of steel imports.

Under the terms of subsection 5.1(2) of the Export and Import Permit Act (EIPA), any type of steel or any product that has been included on the Import Control List (ICL) by order under subsection 5.1(1) shall be deemed to be removed from the applicable List on the expiration of the period of three years from the day on which it was included on that List or on such day prior to the expiration of that period as may be specified in the order. The Order Amending the Import Control List ensures that import monitoring of carbon and specialty steel products is renewed for an additional three-year period to August 31, 2014. As a result, imports of carbon steel and specialty steel products will continue to be monitored without interruption, with the placement of these products on the ICL pursuant to subsections 5.1(1) and (2) and section 6 of the EIPA, effective September 1, 2011.

Description and rationale

The Steel Import Surveillance Program aims to provide stakeholders with accurate and timely statistics on imports of steel into Canada.

Import monitoring of steel products began on September 1, 1986, when carbon steel products were added to the ICL for the purpose of collecting information concerning the importation of such goods. This action was taken as a result of the report issued following the completion of an inquiry by the Canadian Import Tribunal, now known as the Canadian International Trade Tribunal, under section 48 of the Special Import Measures Act. The Tribunal, which concluded its inquiry in this matter in July 1986, found that given a number of factors, including excess carbon steel production capacity, market instability, and significant barriers to trade, it was advisable for the Government to begin collecting carbon steel import information.

Specialty steel products were added to the ICL on June 1, 1987, following an amendment to the EIPA that allowed the Government to collect information on the importation or the exportation of these steel products. Using import licencing for monitoring purposes has the advantage of maintaining the permit system in a state of readiness, should steel import quotas become necessary at some point.

The Canadian steel industry requires the most up-to-date information available on the nature, volume, price and origin of steel imports as well as reports established from this information. Import permit data provide the most up-to-date information available in Canada on these elements. There are currently no alternative sources of equivalent steel import statistics. Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada keeps the industry informed through the update of its Web site each Monday to reflect the previous week’s permit issuance.

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Finance Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) are working toward reducing this regulatory burden at the border by using a new CBSA information sharing system, Pathfinder, to access import data which is currently only available through the import permit system under the EIPA. In November 2010, in anticipation of the full implementation of Pathfinder, all steel import permit fees were eliminated on steel import permits as a cost saving measure for the industry.

Consultation

A full range of Canadian steel industry stakeholders (i.e. steel producers, importers, service centres and related associations) were consulted and invited to submit views with respect to the prospective renewal of the steel import monitoring program. Program renewal is supported by a range of industry stakeholders, including steel producers, and interests representing steel service centres and steel construction. The renewal is supported for another three years, the data provided being up-to-date, accurate and useful.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

Most steel import permits are issued automatically online upon application by customs brokers on behalf of importers. Steel imports cannot be cleared by the CBSA without a permit. The importation of steel covered by the import-monitoring system without an import permit issued by Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada may lead to prosecution under the EIPA.

Contact

Louis Gionet
Deputy Director
Trade Controls Policy Division (TIC)
Trade Controls and Technical Barriers Bureau
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G2
Telephone: 613-995-8367
Email: louis.gionet@international.gc.ca

Footnote a
C.R.C., c. 604; SOR/89-251

Footnote b
SOR/2008-203

Footnote c
R.S., c. 13 (3rd Supp.), s. 1

Footnote d
R.S., c. E-19

Footnote e
R.S., c. 13 (3rd Supp.), s. 1

Footnote f
S.C. 1991, c. 28, s.3

Footnote g
R.S., c. E-19

Footnote 1
C.R.C., c. 604; SOR/89-251

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