SUMMARY

This enactment makes several amendments to the Special Import Measures Act and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act. It gives effect to recommendations set out in the December 1996 Report on the Special Import Measures Act that was issued by the Sub-Committee on the Review of the Special Import Measures Act (of the Standing Committee on Finance) and the Sub-Committee on Trade Disputes (of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade). The key elements of the enactment include the following:

    (a) assignment of responsibility to the Canadian International Trade Tribunal for preliminary determinations of injury, retardation or threat of injury to Canadian industry caused by the dumping or subsidizing of goods;

    (b) provisions governing the disclosure of confidential information by the Deputy Minister of National Revenue to counsel for parties in dumping and subsidy investigations, and new penalties for the unauthorized use of that information;

    (c) provisions governing the disclosure of confidential information by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal to expert witnesses in proceedings related to dumping and subsidy investigations, and new penalties for the unauthorized use of that information;

    (d) provisions governing the consideration, review and termination of undertakings by the Deputy Minister of National Revenue;

    (e) mandatory cumulation, in Canadian International Trade Tribunal inquiries and expiry reviews of existing orders and findings, of the injurious effects of the dumping or subsidizing of goods imported into Canada from more than one country;

    (f) provisions governing the initiation and conduct of public interest inquiries in respect of Canadian International Trade Tribunal findings, including provisions enabling the Tribunal to recommend a lesser anti-dumping or countervailing duty sufficient to eliminate injury, retardation or the threat of injury to Canadian industry; and

    (g) provisions governing the conduct of interim and expiry reviews of existing orders and findings, including the assignment of responsibility to the Deputy Minister of National Revenue for expiry review determinations as to the likelihood of the continuation or resumption of dumping or subsidizing goods.

The enactment also includes housekeeping amendments that clarify existing provisions of the Special Import Measures Act.