The Order Amending the Schedule to the Canadian Customs Tariff (Harmonized System 2017) is now published and available in the Canada Gazette II SOR/2016-817, September 23, 2016 issue. The Order in Council P.C.2016-817 on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance makes the order amending the customs tariff.
The amendments to the 2017 Customs Tariff is effective of January 1, 2017:
- part 1 of the Schedule provides the change to sub-title XII to Chapter 29
- part 2 Repeal of Certain Tariff Provisions
- part 3, 4, 5 Description of Goods amendments
- part 6 Table of Additions to the Tariff at the eighth digit and the duty rate
- part 7 Addition of Tariff items at the eighth digit and phased duty rate effective January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2019.
Here are some of the changes in the specific areas to note:
- Agricultural and food sector: chapter 03 fish and fish products, more specific product detailing, changes in chapter 5, 8, 12, 13, 16 and 22;
- Mineral sector: chapter 27 preparation method, wording changes;
- Chemical sector: changes in chapter 28, 29, 30, 31, 37, 38, Anti-malarial products, amendment to several categories of pharmaceutical products: specific controlled products and pharmaceutical preparations;
- Plastic sector: chapter 39, Ethylene-alpha=olefin copolymers;
- Wood sector: chapter 40, 42, 44 forestry products, wood species, bamboo products, rattan products, tropical wood and non-tropical wood amendment;
- Paper sector: chapter 48 newsprint, wording changes in chapter notes;
- Textile sector: chapter 54, 55, 57, 60 and 63, fabrics of polyethylene monofilament, bed nets;
- Ceramic products: chapter 68, 69, chapter notes wording changes;
- Base metal sector: chapter 82, 83, hand tools, articles of base metal and clothing and textile accessories;
- Machinery sector: chapter 84 and 85, multi-component integrated circuits and electric accumulators, water-jet cutting machines, machine centers and LED lamps;
- Transport sector: chapter 87, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles;
- Other goods of chapter 95, new subheading in chapter 96 for monopods, bipods, tripods and similar articles.
The 2017 Customs Tariff will be posted on Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) website in the coming weeks.
The World Customs Organization (WCO) administers and develops the international goods nomenclature known as the Harmonized System, which enables products to be identified by the same code all over the world. Every five years the WCO HS committee issues amendments to the HS nomenclature. The WCO has published the accepted amendments to the Harmonized System (HS) Nomenclature effective January 1, 2017. There are 233 sets of amendments which include some text amendments, certain new chapter notes, more specific product details and the addition of new subheadings. Consult the Amendment to the Nomenclature for complete details of the changes.