Currently under the Export and Import Permits Act....
Let me step back for just a minute. Governor in Council can put goods on the import control list for a variety of purposes. It can be to support supply management, to implement a free trade agreement, that sort of thing.
The act also gives the minister under the act, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the ability to allocate certain goods for which she has determined an access quantity. That's with reference to the purpose of implementing an intergovernmental arrangement or commitment. A free trade agreement like CETA, for example, is something where the minister has the authority to determine access quantities, which is generally the negotiated quantity. Once she has done that, she then has the ability to determine how to allocate those quantities, and then to issue allocations and permits for those quantities. That is the only purpose right now under the act for which the minister can determine an allocation method and issue allocations.
What this does, as my colleague mentioned earlier, is add an additional purpose for which she can do that. That's under a separate subsection of the act, which is subsection 5(6) of the act, and that's to implement certain actions that are taken under the customs tariff.
Essentially what it means, as my colleague mentioned, is that currently we have the provisional safeguards. The only means of administering those is by way of the issuance of permits on a first-come, first-served basis. Many stakeholders feel that is not conducive to orderly import marketing. Most of them, whether they are in favour of the safeguard, or are not necessarily in favour of the safeguard but are subject to it, would like to have greater transparency and predictability in terms of how those safeguards are administered. They are, therefore, pushing for the minister to have the ability to allocate the quantities under the safeguards.