Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, Madam, good morning.
The official date of the export is important for the payment of the charge and the control of export quotas. Paragraph 5.(1) reads as follows:
5.(1) For the purposes of this act, the time at which an export of softwood lumber product is considered to be exported is the time at which the product was last loaded aboard a conveyance for export.
Normally, if it is put in a truck, the truck leaves and that's it. However, if the softwood lumber product is exported by rail, it is considered to be exported when the railcar in which it has been loaded is assembled to the train that will transport it.
This is problematic for quotas management. Let us suppose that we will export today by rail a quantity equivalent to the monthly quota. The export is made from the time when the railcar is assembled to the train, but if the car stays in the yard several days and is only assembled to the train the following month, the export date will be the date when the car is assembled to the train when in fact the wood will have been exported the previous month. The official date of the export raises an important issue.
Could we treat exports by rail the same as exports by truck in taking into account the date when the product is loaded in the railcar? If it stays in the yard without being assembled to the train, what can you do? The export date should be when the railcar is in the yard ready to leave, even if it stays there.