Guidelines for Preparing a Circumvention Complaint

This guide is intended to help complainants prepare and submit a complaint for an anti-circumvention investigation to determine whether certain goods are circumventing an existing order or finding of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal.

Steps for preparing your complaint

Step 1 - Contacting the Canada Border Services Agency

The Trade and Anti-dumping Programs Directorate of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) conducts anti-circumvention investigations. If you are thinking about preparing a complaint, you should start by reading this guide and consult the Anti-circumvention Investigations Web page.

After you have read these materials, if you have any questions, contact us. The CBSA can offer advice on preparing your complaint or answer your questions about the process.

Step 2 - Completing the Statement of Complaint

In preparing your written complaint, you must complete the following Statement of Complaint which identifies the goods whose importation is allegedly circumventing the order or finding. This statement is also your pledge that the information in the complaint is true and complete.

Statement of Complaint Letter

(date)

Director General
Trade and Anti-dumping Programs Directorate
Canada Border Services Agency
100 Metcalfe Street, 11th floor
Ottawa ON K1A 0L8

(Company name or association) is a (producer, importer, or exporter) of (goods).

This complaint concerns the circumvention of (order or finding) by the importation of (goods).

I, (name), (position title), of (name of company), certify that the information and evidence submitted in this complaint to the Canada Border Services Agency is true, accurate and complete.

Signed: ________________

Note:

Complete this on your company's letterhead. Replace the words in parentheses with the appropriate terms. Have the statement of application signed by a person who has the authority to submit an application on behalf of your company.

Step 3 - Include the Required Information

A complaint should contain the information listed below. For information regarding these requirements see subsection 72(3) of the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA) and section 57.17 of the Special Import Measures Regulations (SIMR).

  • Identity of the Complainant

    Provide the complete name, address, email address and telephone number of the party that is making the complaint and identify the person the CBSA should contact for more information. Provide a statement indicating whether the complainant is an importer, exporter or producer of goods that are subject to the order or finding allegedly being circumvented or of like goods (i.e. identical or similar goods) in relation to those subject goods.

  • Applicable Measure

    Identify the order or finding of the CITT that is allegedly being circumvented, including the definition of the subject goods. This may include more than one order or finding. A list of the current measures in force can be found here.

  • Allegations and Supporting Information

    Provide an explanation of the allegations in regards to circumvention (i.e. describe the change in trade pattern, indicate the prescribed activity that is occurring, explain how the imports are undermining the remedial effects of an order or finding, and identify the principle cause of the change in trade pattern) and include any information that supports these allegations. For assistance in determining what information to provide, refer to the “Anti-circumvention Factors” section in Anti-circumvention Investigations conducted pursuant to SIMA.

  • Description of the Goods

    Precisely describe the goods whose importation is alleged to circumvent the order or finding. Include a description of their physical characteristics, their uses, their packaging, and, if any, their technical specifications and their trade name. If available, provide product literature for the goods including any promotional material.

    Indicate the country where the goods are produced and where they are exported from.

    Indicate if the allegations are in respect of goods imported from a particular exporter or in respect of all such goods imported from a particular country.

    Provide the HS classification numbers used when the goods are imported into Canada.

  • Other Parties

    Identify the importers of the goods, if known, and provide their complete name, address, email address and telephone number.

    Identify the producers or exporters of the goods, if known, and provide their complete name, address, email address and telephone number.

    Identify the Canadian producers of like goods, if known, and each association of such Canadian producers, and provide their complete name, address, email address and telephone number.

  • Other Information

    Your written complaint may lead to an anti-circumvention investigation. Any relevant information you may have that supports your allegations should be included in your complaint. The more information available, the better equipped the CBSA will be to assess your complaint.

Step 4 - Identifying all confidential information in your complaint

You should review your completed complaint to determine if you have included any confidential information. If you decide that your complaint does not contain confidential information, every page of the complaint should be marked "Non-Confidential". You must also make a statement, in a covering letter, that you do not consider any information in your submission to be confidential.

If the complaint contains confidential information, you must clearly mark "Confidential" on every page of the confidential complaint, including any attachments. You must also clearly indicate, by either enclosing all confidential information within square brackets or by shading, all confidential information contained in the confidential version. As a general rule, confidential information usually includes any commercial or financial details not normally made public. You must also prepare a non-confidential version of the complaint, together with an explanation of why this evidence is designated as confidential and a summary of the evidence designated as confidential in sufficient detail to convey a reasonable understanding of the evidence. For further guidance on preparing a non-confidential version of your complaint, please consult the Confidentiality and Disclosure Guidelines for SIMA Proceedings.

Subject to strict conditions, the CBSA may disclose confidential information in your complaint to counsel for other parties involved in the proceedings.

For more information, please refer to the Guidelines on the Disclosure of Confidential Information.

Step 5 - Filing your complaint

Submit your completed complaint, along with your statement of complaint and a separate non-confidential version of this information, to the CBSA via email or on a CD/DVD/USB at the appropriate address noted below:

By email: simaregistry-depotlmsi@cbsa-asfc.gc.ca

Note:

E-mail is not secure, and has a 10MB file transfer size limitation. Protected information and files larger than 10MB should be delivered on a CD, DVD or USB stick to the address below.

By mail:

Director General
c/o SIMA Registry and Disclosure Unit
Trade and Anti-dumping Programs Directorate
Canada Border Services Agency
100 Metcalfe St., 11th Floor
Ottawa ON K1A 0L8

The CBSA will evaluate your complaint and decide whether to initiate an anti-circumvention investigation. You will be notified of the decision within 45 days. If the complaint is not complete, you will be advised of the additional information required.

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