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An Act to amend the Customs Act and to make related amendments to other Acts (S.C. 2001, c. 25)

Assented to 2001-10-25

An Act to amend the Customs Act and to make related amendments to other Acts

S.C. 2001, c. 25

Assented to 2001-10-25

An Act to amend the Customs Act and to make related amendments to other Acts

SUMMARY

This enactment amends the Customs Act to modernize the customs administration by

  • (a) providing for the expedited movement of persons and goods into Canada;

  • (b) providing for streamlined clearance procedures for low risk passengers by pre-arrival risk assessment of passenger information;

  • (c) providing for new requirements in respect of the provision of information obtained under that Act;

  • (d) providing for monetary penalties in respect of designated contraventions;

  • (e) extending the time for requesting reviews and appeals beyond current time limits;

  • (f) harmonizing provisions for the collection of amounts owing under that Act with those of the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act;

  • (g) making technical and housekeeping amendments; and

  • (h) making related amendments to other Acts.

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

R.S., c. 1 (2nd Supp.)CUSTOMS ACT

Marginal note:1997, c. 36, s. 147(1)
  •  (1) The definitions “person”, “prescribed” and “release” in subsection 2(1) of the Customs Act are replaced by the following:

    “person”

    « personne »

    “person” means an individual, a partnership, a corporation, a trust, the estate of a deceased individual or a body that is a society, a union, a club, an association, a commission or other organization of any kind;

    “prescribed”

    « régle­mentaire »

    “prescribed” means

    • (a) in respect of a form or the manner of filing a form, authorized by the Minister,

    • (b) in respect of the information to be provided on or with a form, specified by the Minister, and

    • (c) in any other case, prescribed by regulation or determined in accordance with rules prescribed by regulation;

    “release”

    « dédouane­ment »

    “release” means

    • (a) in respect of goods, to authorize the removal of the goods from a customs office, sufferance warehouse, bonded warehouse or duty free shop for use in Canada, and

    • (b) in respect of goods to which paragraph 32(2)(b) applies, to receive the goods at the place of business of the importer, owner or consignee;

  • (2) Subsection 2(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

    “Agency”

    « Agence »

    “Agency” means the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency;

    “data”

    « données »

    “data” means representations, in any form, of information or concepts;

    “record”

    « document »

    “record” means any material on which data are recorded or marked and which is capable of being read or understood by a person or a computer system or other device;

  • (3) Section 2 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (1.2):

    • Marginal note:Electronic records

      (1.3) Every person required by this Act to keep records who does so electronically shall retain them in an electronically readable format for the prescribed retention period.

  • Marginal note:1999, c. 17, s. 123(3)

    (4) Subsection 2(3) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Attributions du commissaire

      (3) Les attributions conférées au commissaire par la présente loi peuvent être exercées par toute personne qu’il autorise à agir ainsi ou par tout agent appartenant à une catégorie d’agents qu’il autorise à agir ainsi. Les attributions ainsi exercées sont réputées l’avoir été par le commissaire.

Marginal note:1992, c. 28, s. 2(1)

 Section 3.1 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Interest to be compounded

3.1 Interest shall be computed at a prescribed rate or at a specified rate and compounded daily and, if interest is computed in respect of an amount under a provision of this Act and is unpaid on the day it would, but for this section, have ceased to be computed under that provision, interest at the specified rate shall be computed and compounded daily on that unpaid interest from that day to the day it is paid and shall be paid as that provision required the amount to be paid.

Marginal note:1995, c. 41, s. 2

 Subsection 3.3(1) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Waiver of penalty or interest
  • 3.3 (1) The Minister or any officer designated by the Minister for the purposes of this section may at any time waive or cancel all or any portion of any penalty or interest otherwise payable by a person under this Act.

  • Marginal note:Exception

    (1.1) Subsection (1) does not apply if measures may be taken under section 127.1, a request under section 129 is made or the time for making a request set out in that section has not expired.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 3.4:

Payment of Large Amounts

Marginal note:Where excess amount to be paid

3.5 Except in the circumstances that the Minister may specify, every person who makes a payment of any amount under this Act shall, if the amount exceeds the amount specified by the Minister, make the payment to the account of the Receiver General in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time at

  • (a) a bank;

  • (b) a credit union;

  • (c) a corporation authorized by an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province to carry on the business of offering its services as a trustee to the public; or

  • (d) a corporation authorized by an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province to accept deposits from the public and that carries on the business of lending money on the security of real property or immovables or of investing in mortgages or hypothecary claims on immovables.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 4:

Marginal note:Undertakings

4.1 In the case of goods to which paragraph 32(2)(b) applies, the Minister may accept from an importer or transporter an undertaking to assume obligations in relation to compliance with this Act and the regulations.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 7:

Provision of Information

Marginal note:Obligation to provide accurate information

7.1 Any information provided to an officer in the administration or enforcement of this Act, the Customs Tariff or the Special Import Measures Act or under any other Act of Parliament that prohibits, controls or regulates the importation or exportation of goods, shall be true, accurate and complete.

 Section 8 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Declaration

8. The Minister may include on any form a declaration, to be signed by the person completing the form, declaring that the information given by that person on the form is true, accurate and complete.

Marginal note:1997, c. 36, s. 148
  •  (1) Subsection 8.1(7) of the French version of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Imprimés en preuve

      (7) Pour l’application de la présente loi et du Tarif des douanes, un document présenté par le ministre, paraissant être l’imprimé d’un formulaire reçu en application du present article, est admissible en preuve et établit, sauf preuve contraire, la production ou la fourniture du formulaire en application du présent article.

  • Marginal note:1997, c. 36, s. 148

    (2) The portion of subsection 8.1(8) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

    • Marginal note:Regulations

      (8) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations in respect of electronic systems or any other technology to be used in the administration of this Act or the Customs Tariff, including regulations respecting

 Subsection 9(3) of the Act is replaced by the following:

  • Marginal note:Records

    (3) If an officer so requests, a customs broker shall make available to the officer, within the time specified by the officer, any records that the customs broker is required by the regulations to keep.

  •  (1) Subsections 11(1) and (2) of the Act are replaced by the following:

    Marginal note:Presentation of persons on arrival in Canada
    • 11. (1) Subject to this section, every person arriving in Canada shall, except in such circumstances and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed, enter Canada only at a customs office designated for that purpose that is open for business and without delay present himself or herself to an officer and answer truthfully any questions asked by the officer in the performance of his or her duties under this or any other Act of Parliament.

    • Marginal note:Exception

      (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any person who has presented himself or herself outside Canada at a customs office designated for that purpose and has not subsequently stopped at any other place prior to his or her arrival in Canada unless an officer requires that person to present himself or herself to the officer.

  • (2) Section 11 of the Act is amended by adding the following after subsection (5):

    • Marginal note:Exception — alternative manner

      (6) Subsection (1) does not apply to a person who

      • (a) holds an authorization issued by the Minister under subsection 11.1(1) to present himself or herself in a prescribed alternative manner and who has presented himself or herself in the manner authorized for that person; or

      • (b) is a member of a prescribed class of persons authorized by regulations made under subsection 11.1(3) to present himself or herself in a prescribed alternative manner and who has presented himself or herself in the manner authorized for that class.

    • Marginal note:Powers of officer

      (7) Notwithstanding that a person holds an authorization under subsection 11.1(1) or is authorized under the regulations made under subsection 11.1(3), an officer may require a person to present himself or herself in accordance with subsection (1).

 

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