- Accelerated Tariff Elimination -

Invitation to Submit Views on Requests for Accelerated Elimination of Tariffs Under the North American Free Trade Agreement

Initiation of Domestic Consultations

The Government's objective in the domestic consultations is to obtain information from interested parties on the potential advantages and disadvantages of accelerated elimination of customs duties under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on products covered by Canadian and Mexican tariff provisions set out in the two accompanying lists.

The first list contains requests for accelerated tariff elimination that are being considered by Canada and Mexico on goods traded between those two countries. Since any agreement to eliminate tariffs is normally done on a reciprocal basis, no distinction is made between Canadian and Mexican requests. The government is seeking views from interested parties and is prepared to undertake negotiations with Mexico on those requests which are in Canada's interest and which enjoy support in the industry concerned.

The second list contains requests for accelerated tariff elimination that are being considered by the United States and Mexico on goods traded between those two countries. The government is seeking views from interested parties and is prepared to undertake negotiations with Mexico on those requests which are in Canada's interest and which enjoy support in the industry concerned.

The government will be consulting with the Sectoral Advisory Groups on International Trade (SAGITS), provinces, and major associations as the primary source for seeking views.

Inquiries regarding the Mexican Tariff Schedule of the General Import Duty Act should be addressed to the Secretaria de Economia, Alfonso Reyes 30, Piso 18, 0179 México D.F.

Interested Party Submissions

Any interested party is invited to submit views to the Government at the address at the end of this Notice. All submissions must be received no later than October 15, 2001. Submissions should:

(a) identify the tariff item(s) and product(s) being addressed;

(b) clearly indicate support or opposition to the proposed tariff acceleration with respect to each country's tariff that is under consideration;

(c) provide precise information on the reasons for this position. For example, interested parties should state the impact it would have on their operations, including employment and production in Canada, and on their import and export interests.

Background

The NAFTA, which came into effect on January 1, 1994, provides for the eventual elimination of most tariffs on Canadian, U.S. and Mexican goods traded between the three countries. Tariffs on some Mexican products were eliminated on January 1, 1994, while others were eliminated January 1, 1998. Remaining tariffs will be eliminated January 1, 2003. Tariffs on eligible goods traded between Canada and the U.S. were eliminated under the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) January 1, 1998.

Article 302 of the NAFTA provides for accelerated elimination of duty on goods traded under the Agreement, subject to consultation and agreement between the governments of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. NAFTA accelerated tariff elimination may be bilateral or trilateral. Any country can decide not to eliminate its tariffs more quickly, but cannot prevent the other two from proceeding with accelerated tariff elimination with each other.

On May 1, 1999, a Notice was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, setting out the procedures to be followed to request changes to the staging of tariff elimination under the NAFTA.

Explanation of the Lists of Requests

Requests for accelerated tariff elimination may relate to the Canadian Customs Tariff at the following levels of detail: heading (4 digit), sub-heading (6 digit), or tariff item (8 digit). For example, all products covered by a listed heading (4 digit) are being considered for acceleration, as well as all the sub-headings, tariff items and individual products within that particular heading.

Those respondents unable to support a proposed acceleration at the entire tariff heading, sub-heading, or tariff item level, as appropriate, are requested to indicate if there are any tariff provisions, or products or goods covered by that particular heading, sub-heading, or tariff item for which they could support accelerated tariff elimination.

Organization of the Lists of Requests

The first list contains requests for accelerated tariff elimination between Canada and Mexico. The first column of each request or related group of requests contains a brief description of the products, whether it be for the entire chapter, heading, sub-heading, tariff item, or a specific product. The descriptions of the items are provided for reference only and each country's domestic tariff should be consulted for legal descriptions.

Column 2 contains the Canadian Tariff: heading(s), sub-heading(s), or tariff item(s) related to the request received.

Column 3 contains the Mexican Tariff: heading(s), sub-heading(s), or tariff item(s) related to the request received.

The tariff items marked with a (x) already provide duty-free entry or will provide duty-free entry January 1, 2002 for products from Mexico.

The second list contains requests for accelerated tariff elimination between the United States and Mexico. The organization of the second list is set out in the same manner as described above.

Address for Submissions

Submissions, completed in the manner outlined under the heading "Interested Party Submissions" at the start of this Notice, must identify each tariff provision on which views are provided.

Submissions should be addressed to the Committee on NAFTA Acceleration, Department of Finance 140 O'Connor Street, 14th Floor, East Tower, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G5.

Inquiries

If information is required on whether a specific product is classified under one of the tariff items in the list, in respect of the Canadian Tariff, a regional office of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency should be contacted.

General inquiries should be made in writing to the above address, by e-mail to Beyea.Dean@fin.gc.ca or by calling (613) 992-8790.