Handbook of Export and Import Commodity Codes

H-1: Monitoring Softwood Lumber Exports to the United States: General Information

The Government of Canada will monitor the shipments of softwood lumber to the United States from all provinces and territories of Canada beginning April 1, 2001. The monitoring program will be administered through the issuance of export permits by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The object of this monitoring program is to collect data respecting softwood lumber exports to the U.S. for all Canadian provinces and territories. The Maritime Lumber Bureau will continue to operate its Certificate of Origin program for lumber produced in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland in addition to the Export and Import Controls Bureau (EICB) monitoring program.

As of April 1, 2001, softwood lumber products was added to the Export Control List (ECL) as provided by Paragraph 3(c) of the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA). As of that date, applicable to all provinces and territories, all exports to the United States of softwood lumber as defined in paragraphs 3.2 through to 3.3 of Notice to Exporters Serial Number 132, will require an export permit. This arrangement will enable Canada to monitor exports of softwood lumber to the United States.

The Coverage refers to Item 5105 of the Export Control List (ECL): "softwood lumber products" and does not affect ECL item 5104 which implemented the SLA.

Softwood lumber products mean:

  • (a) coniferous wood sawn or chipped lengthwise, sliced or peeled, whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, of a thickness exceeding 6mm, that is classified under subheading 4407.10.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2001) (United States International Trade Commission Pub. 3378, 19 U.S.C. 1202 (1988)) (United States); and
  • (b) coniferous wood (including strips and friezes for parquet flooring, not assembled), continuously shaped (tongued, grooved, rebated, chamfered, v-jointed, beaded, moulded, rounded or the like) along any of its edges or faces (other than wood mouldings and wood dowel rods), whether or not planed, sanded or finger-jointed, that is classified under subheadings 4409.10.10, 4409.10.20 and 4409.10.90 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (2001) (United States International Trade Commission Pub. 3378, 19 U.S.C. 1202 (1988)); (United States) - abbreviated as HTS.

The item on the ECL covers only exports of these products to the United States (see Softwood Lumber Commodity Listing).

In order to implement the monitoring of Canada's exports to the United States, Canada will require all exporters of softwood lumber from Canada to the United States to identify the province or territory of manufacture of such goods on each permit application.

The Province of manufacture is the province or territory where the subject goods have undergone a change in tariff classification to HTS tariff items 4407.10.00, 4409.10.10, 4409.10.20 or 4409.10.90 from any tariff item except a tariff item within that group.

The Province of manufacture means the province or territory where the mill, at which a log from a tree is first manufactured into a softwood lumber product, is situated, whether or not that product is further processed (such as planing or kiln drying) or is transformed from one softwood lumber product into another such product in another province or territory.

Authority

Under Paragraph 3 (c) of the Export and Import Permits Act (EIPA), the Governor in Council may establish a list of goods when she deems it necessary to "...keep under surveillance the export of any raw or processed material that is produced in Canada in circumstances of surplus supply and depressed prices (...)".

Her Excellency, the Governor General in Council pursuant to Paragraph 3(c) and section 6 of the Export and Import Permits Act made the Order amending the Export Control List. This Order adds, as of April 1, 2001, certain softwood lumber products on the ECL in order to implement the monitoring program. The Order and the relevant Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (P.C. 2001-500 and SOR/2001-121) was published in the Canada Gazette, Part II in April 2001.

Export Permit Issuance and Validity

Export permits are governed by the Export Permits Regulations. An individual export permit is required for each shipment of softwood lumber products to the United States, as defined in paragraph 2.1 of Notice to Exporters Serial Number 132, falling within HTS tariff item nos. 4407.10.00, 4409.10.10, 4409.10.20 and 4409.10.90, inclusive, as defined in paragraphs 3.2 to 3.3 of Notice to Exporters Serial Number 132 and described in Additional U.S. Note 3 and Statistical Note 1 to Chapter 44 of the HTS.