As announced in the Federal Budget 2016, the Department of Finance has launched public consultations on eliminating tariffs on food manufacturing ingredients other than supply-managed products. The Government is seeking comments and views from all interested parties on this tariff elimination initiative to assist Canadian industry.
Manufacturers require a wide range of inputs to produce their products. Some of these inputs are imported and may face tariffs when entering Canada. Such tariffs are a non-recoverable charge that increases the production costs for Canadian manufacturers, affecting their competitiveness at home and abroad. Foods used in the manufacturing input sector, such as fruits, vegetables, flour, spices, sugar, fats and oils and many other products would benefit on the tariff elimination.
Eliminating tariffs on imported food manufacturing inputs will support both investment and job creation in Canada’s agri-food processing sector. It will also make the sector more competitive in domestic and foreign markets.
The Government proposes to reduce to “Free” the MFN rates of customs duty on the tariff items listed in Canada Gazette Part 1 Vol.150, April 23, 2016 Table 1.
The tariff items in Table 1 have been selected based on the following factors:
- Goods covered by these tariff items are used in agri-food processing;
- Eliminating the tariff on these goods will reduce production costs for Canadian industry; and
- There is interest from stakeholders in eliminating MFN tariffs on some of these goods to enhance competitiveness.
The description of the tariff items listed in Table 1 can be found in the latest consolidated version of the Customs Tariff available online here.
Interested parties wishing to comment on the proposed MFN tariff elimination should submit their views in writing by June 21, 2016.
Further details, such as which inputs would be affected and how to provide comments, can be found in the Canada Gazette notice below.