Chapter 1- Highlights

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal) is an administrative tribunal operating within Canada’s trade remedy system. It provides Canadian and international businesses with access to fair, transparent and timely processes for the investigation of trade remedy cases and complaints concerning federal government procurement and for the adjudication of appeals on customs and excise tax matters. At the request of the Government, the Tribunal provides advice in tariff, trade, commercial and economic matters.

In 2012-2013, the Tribunal issued more than 170 decisions and orders under its mandate. The Tribunal’s members and staff successfully managed a substantial and complex caseload involving a total of 427 participants, 148 witnesses and more than 150,000 pages of official record.

The number of new dumping investigations increased in 2012-2013 as compared to 2011-2012. The activities relating to public procurement complaints and appeals under the Customs Act, the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) and the Excise Tax Act remained at significant levels throughout 2012-2013.

In September 2012, Ms. Diane Vincent’s term as a member of the Tribunal ended. The Tribunal wishes to acknowledge her significant contribution to the work of the Tribunal over the last five years. During the fiscal year, the Tribunal welcomed two new members. Mr. Daniel Petit was appointed on November 27, 2012, and Ms. Ann Penner was appointed on January 14, 2013.

Trade Remedies

The Tribunal plays a significant role within Canada’s trade remedy system. Under SIMA, the Tribunal determines whether the dumping and subsidizing of imported goods cause injury or threaten to cause injury to a domestic industry.

The Tribunal issued decisions in five preliminary injury inquiries, five injury inquiries and three expiry reviews. The estimated value of the Canadian market for the injury inquiries and expiry reviews for which decisions were rendered represented more than $3.3 billion and approximately 3,000 direct jobs. The Tribunal also issued two determinations in interim reviews of its earlier findings pursuant to SIMA. At the end of the fiscal year, one preliminary injury inquiry, two expiries, two expiry reviews and three requests for interim review were in progress.

Procurement Review

During fiscal year 2012-2013, the Tribunal received 53 new procurement complaints and issued 52 decisions on whether to accept the complaints for inquiry. The Tribunal also issued final decisions in 12 cases that were accepted for inquiry, for a total of 64 decisions. The 53 complaints that the Tribunal received in the fiscal year pertained to 50 different contracts with a collective value of over $350 million.

Appeals

During fiscal year 2012-2013, a total of 73 new appeals were filed with the Tribunal pursuant to SIMA, the Customs Act and the Excise Tax Act. The Tribunal issued decisions in 29 appeals from decisions of the President of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) pursuant to the Customs Act, 7 decisions under the Excise Tax Act and 3 decisions under SIMA.

Outreach Activities

During the fiscal year, the Tribunal’s staff made presentations to various international, legal, administrative and academic bodies. The Tribunal also hosted official delegations from the Eurasian Economic Commission, Peru and the Philippines.

Caseload

The first table below contains statistics pertaining to the Tribunal’s caseload for 2012-2013. The second table contains statistics relating to other case-related activities in 2012-2013. These statistics illustrate the complexity and diversity of the cases considered by the Tribunal.