International Trade committee  First of all, the decision about the market economy was made by the Canada Border Services Agency, and not by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal. It is up to the agency to review the industry in question to determine whether there is really a free market in this area. It d

International Trade committee  We deal with different sorts of cases. In cases relating to safeguard measures or dumping, the complaint must be filed by the industry that is facing injury.

International Trade committee  They can go to the Tribunal as industry representatives, if they have the support of their producers. Obviously, if workers want to file a complaint, they have to do so as representatives of the sector's producers.

International Trade committee  The tribunal has to ensure that the complaint is supported by the majority of the sector, although that does not necessarily mean 50% or more. It simply means that the complainant must be representing a solid share of the industry' stakeholders.

International Trade committee  First of all, our advisory role is circumscribed. We only give advice where asked, and we draw our authority from the mandate that's given. We can't give advice on things we're not asked for. We essentially try to answer the questions that the government puts to us. As a good ex

International Trade committee  A decision by the Tribunal is binding in dumping or countervail cases. By this I mean that the tax is applied for a five year period from the moment the Tribunal determines that injury has been caused. It is not open to debate, it is automatic. In some cases, the second part imp

International Trade committee  The government decided not to implement the tribunal's recommendations on safeguard measures, but did implement those on tariff relief.

International Trade committee  I am afraid I am unable to give you even an approximation.

International Trade committee  Allow me to clarify that when a business or a sector opts to take a matter to the Tribunal, it is free to determine how it wants to be represented. Legal representation involved costs; however, although many companies choose to do so, it is not necessary for a party to be represe

International Trade committee  Are you referring to safeguard measures?

International Trade committee  Perhaps I need to clarify, on the role of the tribunal, that it is not a policy-making organization. It's like a court, essentially. We take the legislation we are given and apply it to the complaints that come before us. It's really not our role to comment on how the agreements

International Trade committee  Well, they would be personal. But since I'm here to speak on behalf of the tribunal, I'll limit myself to what the tribunal can speak about.

International Trade committee  I don't believe we've had, in the recent past, at least, since the tribunal has been in existence, any case that we have heard and decided that has gone to the WTO. There has been no complaint against the way we've executed our responsibilities.

International Trade committee  Well, I think the agreements on dumping and subsidy and safeguards are reasonably clear, and these are internalized in domestic legislation. I think governments get into difficulty in the WTO when they don't respect the terms of the agreements that they've signed. So far, we've b

International Trade committee  The only role we have internally at the tribunal is in government procurement, where we are the appeal court for complaints against the federal government in procurement matters. If the government decides that it sees a role for the tribunal in other internal trade matters, then