Special Import Measures Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. S-15)

PART IIIGeneral

Provision of Evidence to President

Marginal note:President may require evidence to be provided

• 78 (1) Where,

  • (a) in any proceeding undertaken by the President after notice has been given that the complaint is properly documented but before the initiation of an investigation or in any investigation under this Act respecting the dumping or subsidizing of goods, or

  • (b) in relation to the sale of

    • (i) any goods to an importer in Canada, or

    • (ii) any goods located or in the course of production out of Canada,

    that are of the same description as goods to which an order or finding of the Tribunal described in section 3, 5 or 6 applies and that will or may be imported into Canada,

  the President believes on reasonable grounds that any person in Canada is able to provide evidence relevant to any proceedings undertaken by the President before the initiation of an investigation, to the investigation or to the making, for the purpose of facilitating the administration or enforcement of this Act, of an estimate of the duty that will or may be payable on the goods when imported into Canada, the President may, by notice in writing, require the person to provide the President, under oath or otherwise, with the evidence referred to in the notice.

• Marginal note:Notice to provide evidence

  (2) Where, by notice given pursuant to subsection (1), the President requires any person to provide evidence, he shall

  • (a) include in the notice sufficient information for the person to identify the evidence;

  • (b) specify in the notice the time within which and the manner and form in which the evidence is to be provided; and

  • (c) include with the notice a copy or summary of this section and sections 82 to 85.

• Marginal note:Evidence or statement to be provided

  (3) Where a person is required by notice given pursuant to subsection (1) to provide the President with evidence, the person shall

  • (a) if it is reasonably practicable for the person to do so, provide the evidence in accordance with the notice;

  • (b) if it is reasonably practicable for the person to provide a part only of the evidence in accordance with the notice,

    • (i) so provide that part of the evidence, and

    • (ii) provide the President with a written statement under oath identifying the remainder of the evidence and specifying the reason why it is not reasonably practicable for the person to provide the remainder of the evidence in accordance with the notice; and

  • (c) if it is not reasonably practicable for the person to provide the evidence in accordance with the notice, provide the President with a statement under oath so stating and specifying the reason why it is not reasonably practicable to so provide the evidence.

• Marginal note:No oral evidence

  (4) Nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing the President to require any person to provide evidence orally.

• Marginal note:Extension of time

  (5) Where, pursuant to paragraph (2)(b), the President specifies the time within which evidence is to be provided, the President may, either before or after the expiration of that time, extend the time within which the evidence is to be provided.

Marginal note:Designation of evidence as confidential

• 79 (1) Where a person who provides the President with evidence pursuant to subsection 78(3) wishes some or all of the evidence to be kept confidential, the person shall submit, at the time the evidence is provided, a statement designating as confidential the evidence that he wishes to be kept confidential, together with an explanation of why he designated that evidence as confidential.

• Marginal note:Summary or statement to be provided

  (2) Where, pursuant to subsection (1), a person submits to the President a statement designating evidence as confidential, together with the explanation referred to in that subsection, the person shall submit to the President, at the same time, a summary of the evidence designated as confidential in sufficient detail to convey a reasonable understanding of the evidence.

Collection of Duty

80 [Repealed, R.S., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.), s. 209]

Marginal note:Recovery of duties from person other than importer

• 81 (1) Notwithstanding anything in this Act, if any duty payable under this Act in respect of goods has not been paid within thirty days after a demand for payment of the duty has been made under this Act, the President may, by notice in writing, require any person in Canada to whom the goods are sold to pay a sum in respect of the duty not exceeding the amount of the duty payable in respect of the goods sold to that person, which sum is, after the notice has been given, a debt due and payable to Her Majesty by that person and may be recovered at any time by action in any court of competent jurisdiction, together with costs of the action.

• Marginal note:Recourse under Customs Act

  (2) Where an amount that is less than the duty payable in respect of goods imported into Canada is recovered from a person pursuant to subsection (1), such recovery is without prejudice to any recourse available to Her Majesty under the Customs Act with respect to the remainder of the duty payable.

Disclosure of Information

Definition of information

82 In sections 83 to 87, information includes evidence.

Marginal note:Information to be disclosed

83 Where information is provided to the President for the purposes of any proceedings under this Act, every party to the proceedings has, unless the information is information to which subsection 84(1) applies, a right, on request, to examine the information during normal business hours and a right, on payment of the prescribed fee, to be provided with copies of any such information that is in documentary form or that is in any other form in which it may be readily and accurately copied.

Marginal note:Information to be disclosed

83.1 Where information is provided to the President for the purposes of any proceedings under this Act in respect of goods of a CUSMA country, the President shall, on receipt of a request from the government of that CUSMA country, provide that government with copies of any such information that is requested that is in documentary form or that is in any other form in which it may be readily and accurately copied, unless the information is information to which subsection 84(1) applies.

Marginal note:Information not to be disclosed

• 84 (1) Where a person

  • (a) designates information as confidential pursuant to paragraph 85(1)(a), or

  • (b) submits to the President, with respect to evidence, in this section referred to as “information”, provided by him pursuant to subsection 78(3), the statement and explanation referred to in subsection 79(1),

  and that designation or submission, as the case may be, is not withdrawn by the person, no person employed in the federal public administration who comes into possession of that information while he is so employed shall, either before or after he ceases to be so employed, knowingly disclose that information, or knowingly allow it to be disclosed, to any other person in any manner that is calculated or likely to make it available for the use of any business competitor or rival of any person to whose business or affairs the information relates.

• Marginal note:Disclosure

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of

  • (a) any summary of information or statement referred to in paragraph 85(1)(b) or any summary referred to in subsection 79(2); or

  • (b) the disclosure by the President of information for the purposes of proceedings before a panel or the Appellate Body established under the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes set out in Annex 2 to the WTO Agreement.

• Marginal note:Disclosure to counsel

  (3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), information to which that subsection applies that has been provided to the President in any proceedings under this Act shall, on written request and on payment of the prescribed fee, be disclosed by the President, in the manner and at the time specified by the President, to counsel for any party to those proceedings or to other proceedings under this Act arising out of those proceedings for use, notwithstanding any other Act or law, by that counsel only in those proceedings, subject to any conditions that the President considers reasonably necessary or desirable to ensure that the information will not, without the written consent of the person who submitted it to the President, be disclosed to any person by counsel in any manner that is calculated or likely to make it available to

  • (a) any party to the proceedings or other proceedings, including a party who is represented by that counsel; or

  • (b) any business competitor or rival of any person to whose business or affairs the information relates.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3.1) The President may not disclose information under subsection (3) if the President is satisfied that the disclosure might result in material harm to the business or affairs of the person who designated the information as confidential under paragraph 85(1)(a).

• Definition of counsel

  (4) In subsection (3), counsel, in relation to a party to proceedings under this Act, includes any person, other than a director, servant or employee of the party, who acts in the proceedings on behalf of the party.

Marginal note:Designation of information as confidential

• 85 (1) Where a person who provides information to the President for the purposes of proceedings under this Act wishes some or all of the information to be kept confidential, the person shall submit, at the time the information is provided,

  • (a) a statement designating as confidential the information that he wishes to be kept confidential, together with an explanation of why he designated that information as confidential; and

  • (b) a non-confidential edited version or non-confidential summary of the information designated as confidential pursuant to paragraph (a) in sufficient detail to convey a reasonable understanding of the substance of the information or a statement

    • (i) that such a non-confidential edited version or non-confidential summary cannot be made, or

    • (ii) that such a non-confidential edited version or non-confidential summary would disclose facts that the person has a proper reason for wishing to keep confidential,

    together with an explanation that justifies the making of any such statement.

• Marginal note:Interpretation

  (2) A person who designates information as confidential pursuant to paragraph (1)(a) fails to comply with paragraph (1)(b) where

  • (a) the person does not provide a non-confidential edited version, a non-confidential summary or a statement referred to in paragraph (1)(b);

  • (b) the person provides a non-confidential edited version or a non-confidential summary of the information designated as confidential pursuant to paragraph (1)(a), but the President is satisfied that it does not comply with paragraph (1)(b);

  • (c) the person provides a statement referred to in paragraph (1)(b), but does not provide an explanation that justifies the making of the statement; or

  • (d) the person provides a statement referred to in paragraph (1)(b), but the President is satisfied that the explanation given as justification for the making of the statement does not justify the making thereof.

Marginal note:Where there has been failure to comply

• 86 (1) Where a person has designated information as confidential pursuant to paragraph 85(1)(a) and the President considers that the designation is warranted, but the person has failed to comply with paragraph 85(1)(b), the President shall cause the person to be informed of that failure, of the ground on which he has so failed and of the application of subsection 87(3) if the person fails to take, within the time limited therefor by or pursuant to that subsection, such action as it is necessary for him to take in order to comply with paragraph 85(1)(b).

• Marginal note:Where President considers designation unwarranted

  (2) Where, pursuant to paragraph 85(1)(a), a person has designated information as confidential and the President considers that, because of its nature, extent, availability from other sources or the failure of the person to provide any explanation of why he designated it as confidential, the designation of that information as confidential is unwarranted, the President shall cause the person

  • (a) to be notified of the fact that the President considers the designation of that information as confidential unwarranted and of the President’s reasons for so considering; and

  • (b) where the person has failed to comply with paragraph 85(1)(b), to be informed as provided in subsection (1).