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The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has recently provided public comments to industry professionals concerning its enforcement plans related to the importation of goods suspected to be mined, manufactured, or produced with forced or child labor.
Canada implemented an import prohibition on goods mined, manufactured or produced wholly or in part by forced labor as of 1 July 2020, when Parliament amended the Customs Tariff (tariff item no. 9897.00.00) to reflect Canada's new obligations under the USMCA (Article 23.6: Forced or Compulsory Labor). The tariff item is subject to further amendment as of 1 January 2024, where the prohibition on the importation of goods mined, manufactured, or produced wholly or in part by child labor will come into force (together with the forced labor import prohibition, the Import Prohibition).
The CBSA is charged with enforcing the Import Prohibition. To date, there has been limited enforcement of the same (1 detained shipment, later released), which has created ambiguity on the CBSAs enforcement position. In early November, Doug Band, a Director General at the CBSA, made clarifying comments on the CBSAs enforcement plans for the Import Prohibition at a trade and customs conference in Montréal, Québec.
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