Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning to you and the members of the committee.
Thank you for having invited me once again to take part in today's discussion on the auditing of e-commerce taxation.
Peter Hill, the vice-president of our commercial and trade branch, joins me again.
When we last met, I outlined that the CBSA has already made significant progress on the concerns raised in the spring 2019 Auditor General's report. The CBSA acknowledges that there has been growth in low-value shipments year over year, particularly in shipments valued in the lowest value category—goods valued at $20 or less—and, since the Canada-U.S.-Mexico agreement was implemented, also goods from the United States and Mexico valued at $40 or less.
I would like to underline the fact that these items are exempt from duties and taxes, so there is no revenue loss associated with the increase in orders for these types of goods.
The CBSA is taking a comprehensive approach to addressing the challenges raised by the Auditor General. This includes our work on the CBSA assessment and revenue management project—the CARM project—the courier analytics tool and our e-commerce strategy, for example. These are key activities to adapt to a retail landscape in Canada in which people are making more and more purchases online.
In addition to dramatically growing volumes of e-commerce, these transactions have also increased in complexity. Changes in e-commerce are difficult to predict, such as supply chain disruptions, and can be influenced by factors outside of the country and outside of CBSA's control. That's why we are focused on working with partners and stakeholders both in Canada and internationally to tackle the challenges that we are facing.
In particular, I point to the World Customs Organization working group on e-commerce, which CBSA co-chaired. It has developed a global cross-border e-commerce framework of standards and a collaboration with our Border Five partners in the development of a business case to advance implementation of our customs e-commerce strategy.
The CBSA motto is protection, service and integrity. A lot has changed since the CLVS, the courier low-value shipment program, was first put in place. Consumer trends, volumes and even the pandemic have had their impacts. What has not changed is our commitment to protecting the tax space by ensuring that the sales tax system for e-commerce treats all vendors equally with regard to the GST and HST, ensuring the integrity of the data we collect and providing excellent service as one of the major stakeholders in Canada's e-commerce landscape.
I'd be happy to answer any questions from committee members.
Thank you for your attention.