REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE |
Thursday, May 17, 2001 |
The Standing Senate Committee on National Finance
has the honour to present its
FIFTH REPORT
Your Committee, to which was referred Bill S-23, An Act to amend the Customs Act and to make related amendments to other Acts, has, in obedience to the Order of Reference of Thursday, May 3, 2001, examined the said Bill and now reports the same with the following amendments:
1. Page 6, Clause 11 : Add after line 32, the following:
"11.2 (1) The Minister may designate an area as a customs controlled area for the purposes of this section and sections 11.3 to 11.5 and 99.2 and 99.3.
(2) The Minister may amend, cancel or reinstate at any time a designation made under this section.
11.3 No owner or operator of a facility where a customs controlled area is located shall grant or allow to be granted access to the customs controlled area to any person unless the person
(a) has been authorized by the Minister in accordance with regulations made under section 11.5; or
(b) is a prescribed person or a member of a prescribed class of persons.
11.4 (1) Subject to subsection (2), every person leaving a customs controlled area, other than for the purpose of boarding a flight with a destination outside Canada, shall
(a) present himself or herself in the prescribed manner to an officer and identify himself or herself;
(b) report in the prescribed manner and make available to the officer any goods that he or she has acquired through any means while in the customs controlled area; and
(c) answer truthfully any questions asked by an officer in the performance of his or her duties under this or any other Act of Parliament.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to
(a) persons who are required to present themselves under section 11 or report goods under section 12; or
(b) prescribed persons or members of prescribed classes of persons in prescribed circumstances.
11.5 The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) respecting the authorization of persons under paragraph 11.3(a);
(b) prescribing persons or classes of persons who may be granted access under paragraph 11.3(b);
(c) respecting the circumstances in which an authorization under paragraph 11.3(a) may be amended, suspended, renewed, cancelled or reinstated;
(d) respecting the manner in which a person must present himself or herself under paragraph 11.4(1)(a) and report goods under paragraph 11.4(1)(b); and
(e) prescribing for the purposes of paragraph 11.4(2)(b) persons or classes of persons who are exempt from the requirements imposed by subsection 11.4(1) and the circumstances in which they are exempted.".
2. Page 8, clause 17: Replace, in the French version, line 33 with the following:
"et qui doit faire la".
3. Page 34, clause 58: Replace, in the French version,
lines 16 and 17 with the following:a)
"(13) Les renseignements qui ne peuvent être communiqués en raison du paragraphe (11) ne peuvent, à";
(b) line 24 with the following:
"ve ou réglementaire ou la règle de pratique exigeant la communica-"; and
(c) line 28 with the following:
"à une disposition législative ou réglementaire ou la règle de pratique".
4. Page 44, clause 58: Replace, in the French version, line 6 with the following:
"la décision de cette cour ou, en cas de".
5. Page 65, clause 59: Replace lines 41 and 42 with the following:
"accordance with article RE 601 of the Letter Post Regulations of the Universal Postal".
6. Page 66, clause 60: Replace, in the French version, line 12 with the following:
"(b)examiner les marchandises qu'elle a impor-".
7. Page 66, clause 60: Add after line 16 the following:
"99.2 (1) An officer may search any person leaving a customs controlled area, other than a prescribed person or a member of a prescribed class of persons who may be searched under subsection (2), if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person has secreted on or about their person anything in respect of which this Act or the regulations have been or might be contravened, anything that would afford evidence with respect to a contravention of this Act or the regulations or any goods the importation or exportation of which is prohibited, controlled or regulated under this or any other Act of Parliament.
(2) An officer may, in accordance with the regulations, search any prescribed person or member of a prescribed class of persons leaving a customs controlled area.
(3) An officer who is about to search a person under this section shall, on the request of the person, immediately take that person before the senior officer at the place where the search is to be conducted.
(4) A senior officer before whom a person is taken by an officer shall, if the senior officer agrees with the officer that under subsection (1) or (2), as the case may be, the person may be searched, direct that the person be searched or, if the senior officer does not so agree, discharge the person.
(5) No person may be searched by an officer who is not of the same sex and, if there is no officer of the same sex at the place at which the search is to be conducted, an officer may authorize any suitable person of the same sex to conduct the search.
99.3 (1) An officer may, in accordance with the regulations and without individualized suspicion, conduct a non-intrusive examination of goods in the custody or possession of a person leaving a customs controlled area.
(2) An officer may examine any goods in the custody or possession of a person leaving a customs controlled area and open or cause to be opened any baggage, package or container and take samples of the goods in reasonable amounts, if the officer suspects on reasonable grounds that this Act or any other Act of Parliament administered or enforced by the officer or any regulations made under it have been or might be contravened in respect of the goods.
(3) An officer may, at any time, open or cause to be opened, inspect and detain any baggage, package or container found abandoned in a customs controlled area.
99.4 The Governor in Council may make regulations
(a) prescribing persons or classes of persons who may be searched under subsection 99.2(2);
(b) respecting, for the purposes of subsection 99.2(2), the circumstances and manner in which searches are to be conducted and the types of searches that may be conducted; and
(c) respecting, for the purposes of subsection 99.3(1), the manner in which examinations are to be conducted and the machines, instruments, devices or other apparatuses or classes of machines, instruments, devices or apparatuses that may be used to conduct examinations.".
8. Page 69, clause 61: Replace, in the English version,
(a) lines 5 and 6 with the following:
"investigate an alleged offence under any Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province subject to";
(b) lines 10 and 11 with the following:
"respect of the alleged offence may be taken, if that official believes on reasonable grounds";
(c) line 13 with the following:
"offence and will be used in the";
(d) line 15 with the following:
"offence, solely for those purposes;"; and
(e) lines 30 and 31 with the following:
"(ii) a person whom that official has reasonable grounds to believe may have committed an".
9. Page 78, clause 68: Replace lines 11 to 14 with the following:
"section 110, cancel or reduce a penalty assessed under section 109.3 or an amount demanded under section 124 or refund an amount received under any of sections 117 to 119 within".
10. Pages 85 and 86, clause 77: Replace lines 40 to 47 on page 85 and lines 1 to 9 on page 86 with the following:
"77. Section 141 of the Act is replaced by the following:
141. (1) The Commissioner, on application by a person whose interest in a conveyance detained under subsection 97.25(2) or in goods or a conveyance seized as forfeit under this Act has been determined under section 139 or ordered under section 139.1 or 140 to be unaffected by the seizure or detention, shall direct that
(a) in the case of goods or a conveyance the forfeiture of which has become final, the goods or conveyance, as the case may be, be given to the applicant; and
(b) in the case of a conveyance detained under subsection 97.25(2), the conveyance be given to the applicant.
(1.1) If goods or a conveyance that is to be given to the applicant has been sold or disposed of, an amount calculated on the basis of the interest of the applicant in the goods or conveyance at the time of the contravention or use, as determined under section 139 or ordered under section 139.1 or 140, shall be paid to the applicant.
(2) The total amount paid under subsection (1.1) in respect of goods or a conveyance shall, if the goods or conveyance was sold or otherwise disposed of under this Act, not exceed the proceeds of the sale or disposition, if any, less any costs incurred by Her Majesty in respect of the goods or conveyance, and, if there are no proceeds of disposition, no payment shall be made pursuant to subsection (1.1).".
11. Pages 90, clause 88: Replace line 34 with the following:
"taux déterminé, calculés sur les".
Respectfully submitted,
Lowell Murray
Chairman