Canadian International Trade Tribunal : The Canadian International Trade Tribunal has its origins in the Tariff Board. Established in 1931, the Tariff Board derived its authority from the Tariff Board Act, theCustoms Act, the Excise Tax Act, and the Anti-Dumping Act. As of 31 December, 1988 the Tariff Board was amalgamated with the Canadian Import Tribunal (CIT had previously amalgamated with and absorbed the functions of the Anti-Dumping Tribunal in 1984) and the Textile and Clothing Board to form the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) and took over all of the inquiry and appeal functions of these three bodies. The Tribunal is supported by a Research Branch, a Legal Services Branch, and a Secretariat.
CITT was created under the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act (SC 1988, c.56). It also functions under various clauses of the Special Import Measures Act, the Canada-United States Free Trade Implementation Act, the Customs Act and the Excise Tax Act. The Tribunal consists of the Chairman, two vice-chairmen, and not more than six other permanant members to be appointed by the Governor in Council. The Tribunal offers a method of redress of disputes within the international trade community of potentially damaging and volatile issues and helps regulate matters of dispute between Canadian and foreign businesses engaged in international and Canadian trade.
CITT is an independent quasi-judicial tribunal charged with the mandate to conduct the inquiries, reviews, and appeals related to general economic trade, injury, and tariff-related matters previously carried out by its three predecessor organizations. It is also responsible for hearing and ruling on appeals, primarily of customs and excise decisions made by the Minister or Deputy Minister of National Revenue, and for hearing and determining issues pursuant to other acts such as injury determinations from anti-dumping and countervail actions. The Tribunal also considers injury complaints from all Canadian goods producers, and conducts safeguard inquiries as provided for by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act and the Special Import Measures Act. The Tribunal has both judicial and advisory functions and a number of its programmes fall into each category. The CITT reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance.
