Export and Import Permits Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. E-19)

Marginal note:Transfers or unauthorized use

16.1 No person who has been issued an import allocation or an export allocation shall, without the consent of the Minister, transfer it or allow it to be used by another person.

Marginal note:False or misleading information, and misrepresentation

17 No person or organization shall knowingly furnish any false or misleading information or knowingly make any misrepresentation in any application for a permit, import allocation, export allocation, certificate or other authorization under this Act or for the purpose of procuring its issue or grant or in connection with any subsequent use of the permit, import allocation, export allocation, certificate or other authorization or the exportation, importation, brokering, transfer or disposition of goods or technology to which it relates.

Marginal note:Aiding and abetting

18 No person or organization shall knowingly induce, aid or abet any person or organization to contravene any of the provisions of this Act or of the regulations.

Offence and Punishment

Marginal note:Offence and penalty

• 19 (1) Every person or organization that contravenes any provision of this Act or of the regulations is guilty of

  • (a) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both; or

  • (b) an indictable offence and liable to a fine in an amount that is in the discretion of the court or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years, or to both.

• Marginal note:Limitation period

  (2) A prosecution under paragraph (1)(a) may be instituted at any time within but not later than three years after the time when the subject-matter of the complaint arose.

• Marginal note:Consent of Attorney General

  (2.1) No proceedings for an offence in respect of the contravention of subsection 14.2(1) that is deemed to have been committed in Canada under subsection 14.2(3) may be commenced without the consent of the Attorney General of Canada.

• Marginal note:Factors to be considered when imposing sentence

  (3) If an offender is convicted or discharged under section 730 of the Criminal Code in respect of an offence under this Act, the court imposing a sentence on or discharging the offender shall, in addition to considering any other relevant factors, consider the nature and value of the exported or transferred goods or technology, or the imported goods, that are the subject-matter of the offence or, in the case of a contravention of subsection 14.2(1), the goods or technology to which the offence relates.

Marginal note:Officers, etc., of organization

20 If an organization commits an offence under this Act, any officer or director of the organization that directed, authorized, assented to, acquiesced in or participated in the commission of the offence is a party to and guilty of the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for the offence whether or not the organization has been prosecuted or convicted.

Marginal note:Applicant for permit for non-resident

21 If a permit, other than a brokering permit, is issued under this Act to a person who has applied for it for, on behalf of, or for the use of, another person who is not a resident of Canada and that other person commits an offence under this Act, the person who applied for the permit is, whether or not the non-resident has been prosecuted or convicted, guilty of the like offence and liable, on conviction, to the punishment provided for the offence, on proof that the act or omission constituting the offence took place with the knowledge or consent of the person who applied for the permit or that the person who applied for the permit failed to exercise due diligence to prevent the commission of the offence.

Marginal note:Venue

• 22 (1) Any proceeding in respect of an offence under this Act may be instituted, tried or determined at the place in Canada where the offence was committed or at the place in Canada in which the accused is, resides or has an office or place of business at the time of institution of the proceedings.

• Marginal note:Proceedings respecting more than one offence

  (2) In any proceedings in respect of offences under this Act,

  • (a) an information may include more than one offence committed by the same person or organization;

  • (b) all the offences included in the information may be tried concurrently;

  • (c) one conviction for any or all offences so included may be made; and

  • (d) no information, warrant, summons, conviction or other proceedings for those offences shall be deemed objectionable on the ground that it relates to two or more offences.

Marginal note:Evidence

• 23 (1) The original or a copy of a bill of lading, customs form, commercial invoice or other document, in this section called a shipping document, is admissible in evidence in any prosecution under this Act in respect of goods or technology if it appears from the shipping document that

  • (a) the goods or technology was sent, shipped or transferred from Canada or the goods came into Canada;

  • (b) a person, as shipper, consignor or consignee, sent, shipped or transferred the goods or technology from Canada or brought the goods into Canada; or

  • (c) the goods or technology was sent, shipped or transferred to a destination or person other than as authorized in the export permit relating to the goods or technology or the import permit relating to the goods.

• Marginal note:Proof of the facts

  (2) In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a shipping document that is admissible in evidence under subsection (1) is proof of any of the facts set out in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) that appear from the shipping document.

Marginal note:Evidence — Brokering Control List

• 23.1 (1) The original or a copy of a bill of lading, customs form, commercial invoice or other document is admissible in evidence in any prosecution under this Act in respect of any goods or technology included in a Brokering Control List if it appears from the document that

  • (a) the goods or technology was sent or shipped from a foreign country or the goods or technology was destined for a foreign country;

  • (b) a person or organization, as shipper, consignor or consignee, sent or shipped the goods or technology from a foreign country or brought the goods or technology into foreign country; or

  • (c) the goods or technology were sent or shipped to a destination or to a person or organization other than as authorized in the brokering permit relating to the goods or technology.

• Marginal note:Proof of the facts

  (2) In the absence of evidence to the contrary, a document that is admissible in evidence under subsection (1) is proof of any of the facts set out in paragraph (1)(a), (b) or (c) that appear from the document.

General

Marginal note:Customs officers’ duties

24 All officers, as defined in the Customs Act, before permitting the export or transfer of any goods or technology or the import of any goods, shall satisfy themselves that the exporter, importer or transferor, as the case may be, has not contravened any of the provisions of this Act or the regulations and that all requirements of this Act and the regulations with reference to the goods or technology have been complied with.

Marginal note:Application of powers under the Customs Act

25 All officers, as defined in the Customs Act, have, with respect to any goods or technology to which this Act applies, all the powers they have under the Customs Act with respect to the importation and exportation of goods, and all the provisions of that Act and the regulations under it respecting search, detention, seizure, forfeiture and condemnation apply, with such modifications as the circumstances require, to any goods or technology that is tendered for export, transfer or import or is exported, transferred or imported or otherwise dealt with contrary to this Act and the regulations and to all documents relating to the goods or technology.

26 [Repealed, 2018, c. 26, s. 20]

Reports to Parliament

Marginal note:Annual reports

27 No later than May 31 of each year, the Minister shall prepare and cause to be laid before each House of Parliament a report of the operations under this Act for the preceding year and a report in respect of arms, ammunition, implements and munitions of war, that were exported in the preceding year under the authority of and in accordance with an export permit issued under subsection 7(1).