Sweeping Changes to Canada’s Food Regulations
It is fair to say that Canada’s food safety programs strive to keep pace with the global food environment, with a view to protect the health of Canadians. For years the federal government has been working on improving standards in food safety while keeping an eye on harmonizing the Canadian system as much as possible with those of its key trading partners. Well, the long-awaited modernization of Canada’s food regulatory landscape is finally coming...
read moreJean-Marc Clément and Michael Woods Speak at ACI Forum on U.S. Export & Re-Export Compliance for Canadian Operations
Jean-Marc Clément and Michael Woods both spoke at the American Conference Institute (ACI) 6th Forum on U.S. Export & Re-Export Compliance for Canadian Operations which was presented in Toronto January 30 to February 1, 2017. Jean-Marc partnered with Pascal Girard, the Director of the Government of Canada’s Controlled Goods Directorate, offering a workshop on obligations under recently revised Controlled Goods Program (CGP). Later during the conference Michael teamed up with Selina Hui-Garreaud, Director, Export Controls, Bombardier, and...
read moreMichael Woods Participates in CIGI Roundtable on International Human Rights & Trade
On January 20th 2017 Michael Woods participated in the Bridging International Human Rights, Trade and Investment Law Roundtable in Ottawa. This by invitation event was organized by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the University of Ottawa. The roundtable featured experts from government, academia, and private practice. The participants reviewed recent developments in international economic and human rights including the adoption of the UN...
read moreMichael Woods Presents on NAFTA and Aboriginal Law at Global Tribal Trade Conference
Michael Woods participated in two panels discussing NAFTA and Canada’s First Nations U.S. Tribes at the Global Tribal Trade Symposium on November 11 and 12, 2016 at the Faculty of Law, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. This is part of the International Inter-Tribal Trade and Investment Organization’s on-going series, online at: http://iitio.org/woods-nafta-global-tribal-trade/ Powerpoint slides for these two presentations are embedded below: International Trade Law and Aboriginal-Law (Part 1) from Woods, LaFortune LLP Internation...
read moreCETA Will Increase US Exports to Canada: That Should Make A President-Elect Happy
Free trade is complicated business, as will soon find out US president-elect Donald Trump. NAFTA may very well be up for a major grooming, but CETA (crossing fingers now) will increase US exports to Canada and advance the balance of trade in favor of the Americans. And a healthy trade balance is a principle very dear to Mr. Trump who’s looking to restore fairness in trade deals. On the flip side, are more imports...
read moreMichael Woods Presents at Inter-tribal Trade Conference
Michael Woods will be, participating in the second Inter-Tribal Trade Investment Organization (IITIO) Conference (November 11-12) hosted by the Faculty of Law at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops British Columbia. He will be speaking on a panel chaired Ontario’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs and Reconciliation on the topic of “Mechanisms for the Implementation of International Trade. Michael will address the implications of Canada’s investment treaties and NAFTA Chapter 11 as recent Federal Court and Supreme...
read moreMichael Woods Lectures on International Business at Algonquin College
Michael Woods has been engaged by the Faculty of Business at Ottawa’s Algonquin College where he teaches the course, Global Business Environment. Algonquin College of Applied Arts and Technology is a publicly funded college with an enrolment of over 60,000. It is a member of Polytechnics Canada and its School of Business has a long tradition of focusing on international business and trade as a major area of study. The course Michael teaches is...
read moreConsumer and Business Groups Now Can Have a Voice in the Gypsum Board Dumping Inquiry
The dumping inquiry into Gypsum Board from the United States has just been complicated by a Cabinet Order directing the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (“CITT”) to consider whether anti-dumping duties will cause economic harm to Canada and Canadian gypsum board users. As a result of the Order, the CITT must now simultaneously conduct two separate inquiries into U.S. gypsum board imports. While this requirement will make the CITT process more difficult overall, it gives...
read moreSIMA Review? Maybe we can get the Right Balance This Time.
The Department of Finance is seeking input on a “focused set of potential changes” to the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA)[1]. The potential changes would be made in three areas – calculation of normal values, enforcement and evidentiary standards – and would be considered from the perspective of: whether the system protects domestic producers from unfairly traded imports; whether the resulting changes would be transparent and could be effectively administered; whether the resulting changes...
read moreDid a New Brunswick Court Just End Barriers to Interprovincial Trade in Liquor? Don’t Count on it.
On April 29, 2016, the New Brunswick Provincial Court struck down a fine issued to Gerard Comeau for possessing 15 cases of beer and 3 bottles of liquor that he had purchased in Quebec. The Court found that Section 134(b) of the New Brunswick Liquor Control Act, which made it illegal to possess liquor not purchased from the New Brunswick Liquor Commission, was unconstitutional because it did not allow goods of other provinces to...
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