Customs Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 1 (2nd Supp.))

PART IGeneral

Application to Her Majesty

Marginal note:Duties binding on Her Majesty

• 3 (1) All duties or taxes levied on imported goods under the Excise Tax Act, the Special Import Measures Act, the Customs Tariff, the Excise Act, 2001, the Select Luxury Items Tax Act or any other law relating to customs are binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province in respect of any goods imported by or on behalf of Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Act binding on Her Majesty

  (2) Subject to subsection (3), this Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

• Marginal note:Exemption

  (3) The Governor in Council may by regulation exempt Her Majesty in any case or class of cases from the requirement to report under section 12 or 95 subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.

Penalty and Interest

Marginal note:Interest to be compounded

3.1 Interest shall be computed at a prescribed rate or at a specified rate and compounded daily and, if interest is computed in respect of an amount under a provision of this Act and is unpaid on the day it would, but for this section, have ceased to be computed under that provision, interest at the specified rate shall be computed and compounded daily on that unpaid interest from that day to the day it is paid and shall be paid as that provision required the amount to be paid.

Marginal note:Prescribed rate may be authorized

3.2 Where a person is required under a provision of this Act to pay interest on an amount at the specified rate, the person shall, where the Minister or any officer designated by the Minister for the purposes of this section so authorizes, pay interest on that amount under that provision at the prescribed rate rather than at the specified rate.

Marginal note:Waiver of penalty or interest

• 3.3 (1) Except with respect to the collection of any debt due to Her Majesty under Part V.1, the Minister or any officer designated by the President for the purposes of this section may at any time waive or cancel all or any portion of any penalty or interest otherwise payable by a person under this Act.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (1.1) Subsection (1) does not apply if measures may be taken under section 127.1, a request under section 129 is made or the time for making a request set out in that section has not expired.

• Marginal note:Interest on penalty or interest refunded

  (2) Where, as a result of a waiver or cancellation under subsection (1), a person is given a refund of an amount of penalty or interest that was paid by the person, the person shall be given, in addition to the refund, interest at the prescribed rate for the period beginning on the first day after the day the amount was paid and ending on the day the refund is given, calculated on the amount of the refund.

Security

Marginal note:Additional security

• 3.4 (1) Where security has been given to the Minister by a person under a provision of this Act and the Minister or any officer (in this section referred to as a “designated officer”) designated by the President for the purposes of this section determines that the security that has been given is no longer adequate, the Minister or a designated officer may, by notice served personally or by registered or certified mail, require additional security to be given by or on behalf of the person within such reasonable time as may be stipulated in the notice.

• Marginal note:Payment where additional security not given

  (2) Where the additional security required to be given by or on behalf of a person under subsection (1) is not given within the time it is so required to be given, the amount by which

  • (a) the amount owing in respect of which security that has been given to the Minister by the person is no longer adequate

  exceeds

  • (b) the value of the security that has been given to the Minister by the person, as determined by the Minister or a designated officer,

  is payable by the person immediately.

Payment of Large Amounts

Marginal note:Where excess amount to be paid

3.5 Except in the circumstances that the Minister may specify, every person who makes a payment of any amount under this Act shall, if the amount exceeds the amount specified by the Minister, make the payment to the account of the Receiver General in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time at

• (a) a bank;

• (b) a credit union;

• (c) a corporation authorized by an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province to carry on the business of offering its services as a trustee to the public; or

• (d) a corporation authorized by an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of a province to accept deposits from the public and that carries on the business of lending money on the security of real property or immovables or of investing in mortgages or hypothecary claims on immovables.

Performance of Obligations

Marginal note:Performance of obligations

4 Where more than one person is responsible for the performance of any obligation under this Act, performance of the obligation by any one of them shall be deemed to be performance by all of them.

Marginal note:Undertakings

4.1 In the case of goods to which paragraph 32(2)(b) applies, the Minister may accept from an importer or transporter an undertaking to assume obligations in relation to compliance with this Act and the regulations.

Customs Offices and Facilities

Marginal note:Customs offices

5 The Minister may designate customs offices inside or outside Canada for a specified purpose or generally for business relating to customs and may at any time amend, cancel or reinstate any such designation.

Marginal note:Customs facilities

• 6 (1) The owner or operator of

  • (a) any international bridge or tunnel, for the use of which a toll or other charge is payable,

  • (b) any railway operating internationally, or

  • (c) any airport, wharf or dock that receives conveyances operating internationally and in respect of which a customs office has been designated under section 5

  shall provide, equip and maintain free of charge to Her Majesty at or near the bridge, tunnel, railway, airport, wharf or dock adequate buildings, accommodation or other facilities for the proper detention and examination of imported goods or for the proper search of persons by customs officers.

• Marginal note:Clarification

  (1.1) For the purposes of subsection (1), maintain means, in addition to performing general maintenance, paying all costs related to the operation of the buildings, accommodation and other facilities, including electricity, lighting, ventilation, heating, cooling, water supply, sewage treatment, fire protection, snow removal and cleaning.

• Marginal note:Retroactive effect

  (1.2) Subsection (1.1) has retroactive effect to the day on which subsection (1) came into force and applies in respect of any action or judicial proceeding that is pending on the day on which this subsection comes into force.

• Marginal note:Rights of Minister

  (2) The Minister may

  • (a) make such improvements as the Minister considers desirable to any facilities provided pursuant to subsection (1),

  • (b) post, on or about such facilities, such signs as the Minister considers appropriate for the safe use of the facilities or for the enforcement of any law relating to the importation or exportation of goods or the international movement of persons, and

  • (c) continue to use such facilities for as long a period of time as the Minister requires,

  and no person shall interfere with any of the rights set out in this subsection.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (3) The Governor in Council may, subject to subsection (4), make regulations determining what are adequate buildings, accommodation and other facilities for the purposes referred to in subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Retroactive effect of regulations

  (3.1) A regulation made under subsection (3) may, if it so provides, have retroactive effect and apply in respect of any pending action or judicial proceeding.

• Marginal note:Canada Labour Code

  (4) Any building, accommodation or other facility provided for the purposes referred to in subsection (1) that fails to meet the applicable requirements of Part II of the Canada Labour Code shall be deemed not to be adequate for those purposes.

• Marginal note:Powers of Minister

  (5) Where any building, accommodation or other facility provided pursuant to subsection (1) at or near an international bridge or tunnel is not adequate for the purposes referred to in that subsection, the Minister may, on thirty days notice to the owner or operator of the bridge or tunnel, carry out any construction or repairs on the site of the facility in order to render it adequate for those purposes.

• Marginal note:Liability for costs

  (6) The owner or operator of an international bridge or tunnel is liable for all reasonable costs incurred by the Minister under subsection (5), which costs may be recovered in accordance with sections 143 to 145.

Application of Act

Marginal note:Application inside and outside Canada

7 Subject to this Act and the regulations, any of the powers, duties or functions established under this Act or the regulations relating to the importation of goods may be carried out inside Canada or, where they do not conflict with the laws of another country, inside that other country and may be carried out before or after the importation.

Provision of Information

Marginal note:Obligation to provide accurate information

7.1 Any information provided to an officer in the administration or enforcement of this Act, the Customs Tariff or the Special Import Measures Act or under any other Act of Parliament that prohibits, controls or regulates the importation or exportation of goods, shall be true, accurate and complete.

Forms

Marginal note:Declaration

8 The Minister may include on any form a declaration, to be signed by the person completing the form, declaring that the information given by that person on the form is true, accurate and complete.

Electronic Filing

Meaning of electronic filing

• 8.1 (1) For the purposes of this section, electronic filing means using electronic media in a manner specified in writing by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Application for electronic filing

  (2) A person who is required to file or otherwise provide forms under this Act or the Customs Tariff and who meets the criteria specified in writing by the Minister may file with the Minister in the prescribed manner an application, in the prescribed form with the prescribed information, for authorization to file or otherwise provide the forms by way of electronic filing.

• Marginal note:Authorization

  (3) If the Minister is satisfied that a person who files an application under subsection (2) meets the criteria referred to in that subsection, the Minister may, in writing, authorize the person to file or otherwise provide forms by way of electronic filing, subject to such conditions as the Minister may at any time impose.

• Marginal note:Revocation

  (4) The Minister may revoke an authorization granted to a person under subsection (3) if

  • (a) the person, in writing, requests the Minister to revoke the authorization;

  • (b) the person fails to comply with any condition imposed in respect of the authorization or any provision of this Act or the Customs Tariff;

  • (c) the Minister is no longer satisfied that the criteria referred to in subsection (2) are met; or

  • (d) the Minister considers that the authorization is no longer required.

• Marginal note:Notice of revocation

  (5) If the Minister revokes the authorization, the Minister shall notify the person in writing of the revocation and its effective date.

• Marginal note:Deemed filing

  (6) For the purposes of this Act and the Customs Tariff, if a person files or otherwise provides a form by way of electronic filing in accordance with the conditions, if any, imposed under subsection (3), it is deemed to be filed or provided in the prescribed form on the prescribed day.

• Marginal note:Print-outs as evidence

  (7) For the purposes of this Act and the Customs Tariff, a document presented by the Minister purporting to be a print-out of a form received under this section shall be received as evidence and, in the absence of proof to the contrary, is proof of the form filed or otherwise provided under this section.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (8) The Governor in Council may, on the recommendation of the Minister, make regulations in respect of electronic systems or any other technology to be used in the administration of this Act or the Customs Tariff, including regulations respecting

  • (a) the supplying of information or forms for any purpose under this Act or the Customs Tariff in electronic or other form, the notification of persons and the transmission of any other information under this Act or the Customs Tariff;

  • (b) the payment of amounts under this Act or the Customs Tariff by electronic instructions; and

  • (c) the manner in which and the extent to which, if at all, any provision of this Act or the Customs Tariff or the regulations under either Act applies to the electronic systems, and adapting any such provision for the purpose of applying it.

Brokers and Agents

Marginal note:Issue of customs broker’s licence

• 9 (1) Subject to the regulations, the Minister or any person designated by the Minister for the purposes of this section may issue to any person who is qualified under the regulations a licence to transact business as a customs broker.

• Marginal note:Amendment, etc., of licence

  (2) Subject to the regulations, the Minister may amend, suspend, renew, cancel or reinstate any licence issued under subsection (1), and any person designated by the Minister for the purpose of this section may amend, suspend, renew, cancel or reinstate any licence issued by himself under subsection (1).

• Marginal note:Records

  (3) If an officer so requests, a customs broker shall make available to the officer, within the time specified by the officer, any records that the customs broker is required by the regulations to keep.

• Marginal note:Prohibition

  (4) No person shall transact or attempt to transact business as a customs broker or hold himself out as a customs broker unless the person holds a licence issued under subsection (1) or unless he is qualified under the regulations and is duly authorized to transact business as a customs broker by a person who holds such a licence, but nothing in this subsection shall be so construed as to prohibit any person from transacting business on his own behalf under this Act, or to prohibit persons administering estates or other duly authorized agents from transacting business under this Act.

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (5) The Governor in Council may make regulations

  • (a) prescribing qualifications as to citizenship, residence and knowledge of the laws and procedures relating to importations and exportations and any other qualifications that must be met by an applicant for a customs broker’s licence issued under subsection (1), and any such qualifications that must be met by a person who transacts business as a customs broker on behalf of a person so licensed;

  • (b) prescribing the terms and conditions on which such licences may be issued, including the security that may be required and the fees, if any, to be paid for the licences;

  • (c) prescribing the duration of such licences;

  • (d) prescribing the manner of applying for such licences or for renewals thereof;

  • (e) providing for the examination of applicants for such licences, and of persons who will transact business as customs brokers on their behalf, by the Minister or by any other person with respect to their knowledge of the laws and procedures relating to importations and exportations;

  • (f) prescribing the examination fees to be paid, the amount of any deposit that may be taken in respect thereof and the conditions under which such fees or deposits may be refunded;

  • (g) prescribing the records to be kept by customs brokers and the period of time for which they shall be kept; and

  • (h) prescribing the manner and circumstances in which the Minister may suspend or cancel a customs broker’s licence issued under subsection (1) or any other person may suspend or cancel such a licence issued by himself thereunder, and the circumstances in which a customs broker’s licence shall be surrendered.