The following is adapted from the 2015 update to my book, Canadian Trade Law: Practice & Procedure (Thomson Carswell 2007), which reviews the decisions of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal on an annual basis, summarizing important elements in its decisions under the Special Import Measures Act, R.S.C. 1985, c/ S-15 (“SIMA”), The Tribunal celebrated its… Read More »
The Problem In concert with its western allies, Canada has instituted a series of trade and economic sanctions against Iran, Syria, Russia, plus about twenty other countries and failed states. These can be tricky seas to navigate for Canadians, doubly treacherous because of the criminal penalties involved when sanctions are transgressed. The challenges are compounded… Read More »
Controversy The IP provisions in the TPPA have been the source of some controversy, not only in Canada but in other countries. In Canada, some say these are responsive to corporate interests and will inhibit local innovation and entrepreneurship. The focus seems to be on the patent provisions in the Agreement, less so on the… Read More »
There’s been concern expressed in some quarters about whether the TPP Agreement will limit the ability of governments to take public safety measures, in particular, to require disclosure of encryption information for national security reasons. The discussion has been focused on provisions on Chapter 8 of the TPPA covering Technical Barriers to Trade. Some are… Read More »
A note – many years ago I was head of the Treaty Law Section in the old Department of External Affairs. What follows deals with the kinds of issues I covered on a daily basis, coming back into prominence so many years later. Signing the Agreement – What Does That Do? There’s been a fair… Read More »
The release of the TPP text has spawned a vast cyber-literature, as law firms and consultants compete to provide the hottest insights on what’s really in the agreement and its many hidden traps. There are many. This note doesn’t try to do that. Rather, it looks at the structure of the agreement to shed some… Read More »
THE TPP – DRAMA IN FIVE ACTS [A long Way Before the Final Curtain] Paper presented by me at the Canada-US Law Institute Colloquium, Washington, DC, 29 October 2015 The successful conclusion of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations on October 5, 2015, represented a signal achievement in international trade diplomacy, all the more significant in… Read More »
Here is the link to my op-ed piece in the Financial Post, 8 October 2015, explaining what the implications are if Canada was to reject the TPP Agreement. We would retain all our MFN rights under the WTO Agreement and all the advantages under the NAFTA – but we would lose access to the better… Read More »
Here is an op-ed of mine published in the Globe & Mail, on line on 5 October 2015 and in the 6 October print version. You can also see it here. http://bit.ly/1MbGaqt Lawrence Herman is a principal at Herman and Associates. He practises international trade law and is a senior fellow of the C.D. Howe Institute… Read More »