November 21, 2023
Canada maintains non-reciprocal tariff preference programs for goods imported from developing countries under the Customs Tariff, including the General Preferential Tariff (GPT) and Least Developed Country Tariff (LDCT), the new General Preferential Tariff Plus (GPTP) and the Commonwealth Caribbean Country Tariff (CCCT).
As part of the renewal process, updates to program terms are necessary to ensure that the programs are accessible and align with Canada's broader trade and development agenda. As the previous set of updates came into force in 2015, several areas of the programs warranted updating to better reflect beneficiary countries' current economic status as well as to improve utilization of the programs.
While these program changes are set to come into force on January 1, 2025, the relevant regulations were made to provide Canadian importers reliant on Canada's non-reciprocal tariff preferences with advance notice and lead time to adjust their supply chains, operations or practices, as necessary.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has issued Customs Notice 23-27 Amendments to the Customs Tariff legislation and related regulations to inform industry before the January 2025 changes.
Further details of the changes are also available in the regulatory impact analysis statement of Order in Council P.C. 2023-1013