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 to a close: indeed the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) – one of many Canadian food regulators – published proposed new regulations in the Canada Gazette Part I publication issued January 21, 2016. You may access this publication by following this link: The CFIA notice begins at page 258 by providing a very instructive backgrounder on this colossal food modernization undertaking. Then from page 338 to 540 the proposed text of the new regulations is reproduced in its entirety; it is aptly called Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. The proposed regulations aim to combine various disparate food requirements found in numerous regulations under a common regulatory umbrella. It deals with food standards of course, but also with food packaging, labeling, registrations, licensing, inspections, to name but a few. One noteworthy provision deals with the mandatory requirement to possess a fixed place of business in Canada in order to import food. Failing that, non-resident importers can only bring food from a foreign state that has a food safety system equivalent to Canada, or make the appropriate arrangements with a Canadian-based importer. Minor exceptions apply in specific circumstances. It is worth noting that the new regulations are at the proposal stage at the moment. CFIA invites views from stakeholders to be communicated to them in the next 90-days, or until April 21, 2017 to be precise. Food is one of the most complex commercial sectors to manage when ensuring compliance with import and export trade requirements. Hard to imagine but food is perhaps more heavily regulated than, say, arms and munitions. Health and safety of consumers is of course at the top of the regulators’ mind, with trade facilitation a distant second. Those involved in food trade...
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 Bruce Latimer, President and General Counsel, L-3 Communications Electronic Systems. Their panel addressed practical steps in compliance with the CGP’s Enhanced Security Strategy. If you have export compliance issues or questions about Canada’s Export Controls regulations, the Controlled Goods Program, and/or Canada’s economic sanctions regime, please contact us at Woods, LaFortune...
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 Sustainable Development Goals in September 2015 and recent developments affecting the international trading system, including the Brexit vote, the post-negotiation reaction to CETA, the Trump Administration’s position with respect to international trade. The primary focus of the experts was the evolving relationship between international human rights, trade and investment law. The group identified areas for further policy research and future collaboration. Michael shared his experience international trade and investment negotiations, including NAFTA, and investor-state-dispute settlement. He also discussed indigenous rights and international trade investment law in the context of his work on First Nationals and inter-tribal trade. He referenced his work with the International Inter-tribal Trade and Investment Organization and the important work of Risa Schwartz of the CIGI International Law Research Program, who served as one of the moderators. About CIGI: The Centre for International Governance Innovation is an independent, non-partisan think tank with an objective and uniquely global perspective. The group’s research, opinions and public voice make a difference in today’s world by bringing clarity and innovative thinking to global policy...
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 Trade Law International Trade Law and Aboriginal-Law (Part 2) from Woods, LaFortune LLP Internation Trade...
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 bad for the Canadian economy? Imports typically get a bad rap and are usually seen as the culprit in international trade. Well the answer is no, considering that those imports will create jobs and provide Canadian export opportunities with the EU. And Canada is well positioned to attract those US manufacturers and investors who will be looking north to get their goods into the EU market. One of the least talked about repercussion of CETA is the impact it will have on US manufacturing moving to Canada. Perhaps not the entire US plant will be moving here, but some part of the manufacturing process will certainly migrate north. Most CETA analysis reported in Canadian media focuses on threats to certain Canadian industries; attention hasn’t yet shifted south concerning our trade with the USA. No doubt US manufacturers will have a serious look at Canada to produce goods that are primarily aimed for EU clients, in addition to serving their Canadian market. Some serious planning will be going in meeting rooms across the fifty states: How to manufacture enough in the US to ship NAFTA qualifying inputs/components duty free across the Canadian border, and then sufficiently transform or add value to those inputs/components in Canada to make a qualifying CETA good entering the EU with preferential treatment? That will be the question. Increasingly US exports to the EU will shift to Canada. Semi-manufactured US goods will come to Canada first, where sufficient Canadian content can be added to qualify for CETA. Although not an agreement that should concern American manufacturers at first glance, they will soon be learning CETA rules of origin that matter most to them. Perhaps getting better at it then most Canadian manufacturers...
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 Court of Canada rulings. He will also chair a panel with Government of Canada and United States officials on government trade programs and the potential for future for inter-tribal trade missions. For more details see the conference...
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