International Trade committee  If I may, Mr. Chairman, with respect to clause 99 and the absence of a requirement to consult, my colleagues have indicated that consultations are ongoing with the provinces with respect to several matters, including allocation eligibility criteria and eventual payments. Those consultations with the provinces will continue for some time.

International Trade committee  Thanks for characterizing me as a drafter, but in fact we have experts who have prepared this bill and we've been advising the government with respect to instructions for drafting the legislation. With respect to the question of independent remanufacturers, as you know, the bill has provided for authority for certification of independent remanufacturers, and CRA will be doing that.

International Trade committee  The intention would be to be faithful to those requirements established under the agreement.

International Trade committee  Thank you for that question, Mr. André. The new provision in the Export and Import Permits Act, proposed section 6.3, is actually based on existing legislation that provides for establishing quantities for import access pursuant to WTO commitments. So the cascade or the arrangement is very similar.

International Trade committee  No, that's quite right. By having clause 17, Canada would be able to provide exemptions without having to come back to Parliament. The softwood lumber agreement is a living instrument that contemplates future arrangements. It provides an ability, in subclause 17(1), for example, to exempt exports from a region if Canada and the United States agree that it's appropriate.

International Trade committee  No, I think you've covered it, Paul. I'm not sure if that answers your question, sir.

International Trade committee  Ron, I think you had an observation about those who would be paying the special charge.

International Trade committee  The remissions in particular, or...?

International Trade committee  There's authority under the Financial Administration Act to make a remission order of that kind, and it was not necessary to repeat that authority here. So there's no intention to double the burden on the payer.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. The practical implications of a reading of subclauses 18(3) and 18(5) essentially provide for options for the taxpayer so that the charge becomes payable either on the date when this act receives royal assent, or on the date when the duty deposit refund is issued to the specified person or their designate, or on the date that the person has sold his rights to that refund to Her Majesty.

International Trade committee  As I understand the refund stream from the United States entities, those refunds are linked to entries. They aren't rolled up by entity. They aren't rolled up in any way other than presented through an individual refund. As we understand it, the refunds can commence, and the United States will establish its own schedule for making those refunds, and it's arguable that....

International Trade committee  That is yet to be worked out with the provinces in terms of an agreement of the overall cost sharing and what's to be netted out by the government to cover their administrative and legal costs to administer this agreement.

International Trade committee  The charge that applies to exports from Atlantic Canada is payable only in circumstances that have been established in the softwood lumber agreement, which are faithfully reproduced in the implemented legislation. So it's necessary for Canada to be able to meet its obligations to begin collecting possible charges on exports from Atlantic Canada before the legislation receives royal assent.

International Trade committee  The structure of the bill is to impose a charge, singular. That element was basic to the architecture of the bill, and to speak in the plural, of “charges”, could introduce ambiguities in the administrative provisions. So by speaking of one charge, the administration can be clear and unambiguous.

International Trade committee  Thank you for that question. The charge is established by clauses 10 through 18 of the bill. As such, there is a single charge, and as one reads through the provisions, one can discern the rate of tax that would apply to a particular lumber export. Penalties are addressed later in the bill, and have to do with various offences under the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act and the Export and Import Permits Act.