Bill C-35, An Act respecting the prohibition of the importation of goods produced by forced labour, would create a new Act and make related changes to the Customs Tariff. Its stated goal is to prohibit imports of goods made wholly or partly by forced labour. The supplied material does not establish that the bill has become law, so its proposed rules should not be treated as in force.
The bill would prohibit importing goods made wholly or partly by forced labour, whether or not they appear on a ministerial list.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs could make a regulation listing goods there are reasonable grounds to suspect were made with forced labour. The Minister must identify the producer, the country or region of production, or both.
A designated customs officer could decide whether imported goods were made with forced labour and detain them for up to 90 days, or longer if regulations allow.
An importer of listed goods would have to provide prescribed information to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) if a customs officer requests it. If the importer fails to do so, those goods would be deemed prohibited.
Importers and owners of goods imported in breach of the prohibition would be jointly responsible for the government’s costs of detaining, storing, transporting or disposing of them.
The bill would make decisions under its Act ineligible for appeal or review under the Customs Act, while leaving judicial review available. It would also change how some existing customs decisions and appeals are handled.
Importers: You could not import goods made wholly or partly by forced labour. If you import listed goods, you would have to provide prescribed information when a customs officer requests it. The bill does not make that information request automatic.
Owners of imported goods: If goods are imported in breach of the prohibition, you could be responsible along with the importer for specified government costs.
CBSA and customs officers: The bill would give designated officers authority to decide whether goods were made with forced labour and to detain goods for the stated period.
Government departments: The Foreign Affairs Minister could receive information from the listed ministers and public officials to help establish the list. Those people may share information with the Minister for that purpose.
General public: The bill would not itself create a grant or benefit program. The supplied text does not set out a general public application or complaint process.
No cost estimate is available in the supplied material.
The bill would require customs enforcement work, including decisions about goods and possible detention. It gives no staffing or cost estimate.
Importers and owners could be charged the government’s costs for detaining, storing, transporting or disposing of goods imported in breach of the prohibition.
The bill does not specify a fee, fine or dedicated funding amount.
Regulations would set what information importers must provide and how and when they must provide it. Those details are not in the bill text.
The bill does not set out how goods are added to or removed from the list, or how producers or importers could challenge a listing.
The text does not explain the evidence or process customs officers would use to decide whether goods were made with forced labour.
The bill uses the meaning of “forced or compulsory labour” in an International Labour Organization convention; it does not define the term separately.
Sections 8 and 9—the information requirement and the rule deeming goods prohibited if that requirement is breached—would start on a day set by the Governor in Council. The supplied text does not give that date or say when the other provisions would start.
The text refers to existing customs tariff and appeal rules, but the parent laws were not supplied, so their full current operation and the bill’s interaction with them cannot be verified here.
The bill leaves important operating details to future regulations, including the information importers must provide and the time and manner for providing it.
The bill does not set out a listing or review process. It is therefore unclear how quickly a listing could be corrected if information about a producer or region changed.
The bill limits appeals and reviews under the Customs Act for decisions under the new Act. Judicial review would remain, but the text does not provide a separate appeal process.
Detention could last longer than 90 days if regulations prescribe a longer period; the bill sets no maximum for that extension.