ARCHIVED - Canadian International Trade Tribunal

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SECTION I—TRIBUNAL OVERVIEW

Chairperson’s Message

I am proud to present the 2008-2009 Departmental Performance Report (DPR) for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal).

The Tribunal’s mandate is to provide the fair, transparent, timely and effective disposition of international trade cases, government procurement reviews and other matters in various areas of the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The Tribunal conducts inquiries into complaints relating to unfair trade (i.e. dumping and subsidizing), requests for protection from rapid increases in imports (safeguards) and complaints regarding federal government procurement. The Tribunal hears appeals from decisions of the Minister of National Revenue under the Excise Tax Act and of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) under the Customs Act or the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA). In its advisory role, the Tribunal undertakes general economic inquiries for the Governor in Council and tariff references for the Minister of Finance.

As this DPR illustrates, the Tribunal’s activities and initiatives contribute to Canada’s competitiveness and to a fair and secure marketplace.

September 2008 marked the Tribunal’s 20-year anniversary. Over the previous two decades, the Tribunal has built a strong reputation because of its fair, timely and transparent decisions. The Tribunal continued in this direction in 2008-2009 by focusing on its main priority of making sound decisions within statutory deadlines, and its supporting priorities under three broad categories: investment in its people, sound management practices and improved service delivery.

The Tribunal was able to meet nearly all of its targets in 2008-2009. The number of cases it received was very close to its baseline, i.e. the average number of cases it normally receives annually. The Tribunal managed to meet all of its statutory deadlines while maintaining its quality standards. However, the complexity and size of one anti-dumping case, as well as some bunching of cases, created serious challenges in terms of resource allocation, which resulted in delays in the release of decisions under the Tribunal’s appeals mandate, which fortunately, is not subject to statutory deadlines.

The coming year should be quite challenging for the Tribunal as it will be facing a very different economic environment from that of 2008-2009. The world economic recession has convinced the Tribunal to revise its estimated caseload upward. Experience from past recessions leads us to believe that the Tribunal will face a significant increase in the number of trade remedies cases as the economy starts to recover. Procurement cases have been on an upswing for the last several years, a trend that the Tribunal now believes will accelerate as the Government increases its procurement activity in response to the recession and as government procurement becomes more important to businesses in Canada. Although the Tribunal faces significant financial and human resources pressures due to the recession, it looks forward to the opportunity of playing an important role in Canada’s economic recovery by producing fair, timely and transparent decisions.

The original version was signed by:
André F. Scott
Chairperson

Raison d’être

The purpose of the Tribunal is to contribute to the economic objectives of the Government of Canada through its adjudicative and advisory work by ensuring fair, accessible and transparent trade and procurement regimes in Canada.

Responsibilities

The Tribunal was established in December 1988 under the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act (CITT Act). It acts as an independent investigative and quasi-judicial decision-making body that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. The Tribunal also derives authority from the Special Import Measures Act, the Customs Act and the Excise Tax Act. The Tribunal operates in one central location in Ottawa, Ontario.

Under SIMA, the Tribunal conducts inquiries into whether dumped and/or subsidized imports have injured Canadian manufacturers. Pursuant to the Customs Act, the Excise Tax Act and SIMA, the Tribunal is empowered to deal with appeals from decisions of the Minister of National Revenue and the CBSA on various excise and customs matters.

The Tribunal is designated as the bid challenge authority (for procurement complaints) under the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Agreement on Internal Trade the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement, and the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement.

Under the CITT Act, the Tribunal inquires into and provides advice on such economic, trade, commercial and tariff issues as are referred to the Tribunal by the Governor in Council or the Minister of Finance. It also undertakes safeguard inquiries under the CITT Act and is empowered, on complaint by an interested party or as directed by the Government, to carry out safeguard inquiries into rapid increases in foreign imports (including through special procedures for imports from the People’s Republic of China specifically) and to formulate recommendations to the Government for dealing with such imports.

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

The chart bellow illustrates the Tribunal’s complete framework of program activities. The Tribunal has no program sub-activities.

Summary of Performance

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

Planned Spending	Total Authorities	Actual Spending
10,152	11,009	9,819

The Tribunal’s financial resources had a direct impact on its ability to achieve its strategic outcome and deliver on its program activities. The following sections highlight the Tribunal’s performance and demonstrate linkages between resources and results.

During the 2008-2009 fiscal year, the Tribunal’s planned spending was $10.2 million. Through the Main Estimates and Supplementary Estimates, the Tribunal was allocated total authorities of $11 million, of which $0.7 million was a frozen allotment relating to the realignment of resources resulting from the strategic review process. Actual spending for the Tribunal was $9.8 million.

Human Resources (FTEs)

Planned	Actual	Difference
77	73	4

The decrease in full-time equivalents (FTEs) from 77 to 73 in 2008-2009 is primarily due to normal staff turnover which includes retirements, secondments and parental leaves.

The Tribunal’s success in fulfilling its mandate is directly tied to its professional, loyal, committed and knowledgeable staff.

Strategic Outcome 1: Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases and government-requested inquiries into economic, trade and tariff matters within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction.

Performance Indicators	Targets	Performance Summary
% of decisions published within statutory deadlines.	100% of statutory deadlines are met.	Met all
% of notices, decisions, guidelines for all mandates and practice notices are accessible to the public through the Tribunal Website, Canada Gazette or on MERX accordingly.	100% of notices, decisions, guidelines for all mandates and practice notices are accessible to the public through the Tribunal Website, Canada Gazette or on MERX.	Met all
% of decisions under judicial review dealing specifically with “due process” that are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies.	Less than 1% of all decisions issued dealing specifically with “due process” are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies on judicial review.	Exceeded
% of all decisions that are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies.	Less than 2% of all decisions issued are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies.	Met all
% of decisions on appeals issued within internal deadlines.	70% of internal deadlines are met.	Not met
% of recommendations and reports that meet the Terms of Reference and provide requested information.	100% of recommendations meet the terms of reference and provide requested information.	Met all
% of reports and recommendations to the Government or Minister of Finance that are issued within statutory deadlines.	100% of reports and recommendations are issued within statutory deadlines.	Met all
Summary of achievements against priorities ● The Tribunal met its targets for issuing all decisions within statutory deadlines, making information available to the public and sound decision making. The Tribunal exceeded its performance target on due process. ● The Tribunal improved its performance in meeting internal deadlines for the issuance of appeals decisions. However, this performance continues to be below the Tribunal’s target as a consequence of reassigning resources from appeals cases to other cases in order to meet statutory deadlines. ● The Tribunal met its target for providing complete reports and recommendations to the Minister of Finance under the textile tariff reference. It met its target for providing timely reports and recommendations.

Financial Resources by Program Activity ($ thousands)

Program Activity1	Actual Spending 2007-2008	2008-2009				Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		Main Estimates	Planned Spending	Total Authorities2	Actual Spending
Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)	9,764	9,969	9,969	10,826	9,664	Fair and secure marketplace
General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)	297	183	183	183	155	Fair and secure marketplace
Total	10,061	10,152	10,152	11,009	9,819
1. For program activity descriptions, please access the Main Estimates online at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/estime.asp. 2. Includes a frozen allotment of $702,000 as part of the Strategic Review process.

Contribution of the Tribunal’s Priorities to its Strategic Outcome

Operational Priorities	Type	Status	Link to Strategic Outcome
I—Process Cases Within Statutory Deadlines and Maintain Quality Standards • More Flexible Business and Resource Model The Tribunal’s overriding priority continued to be to hear cases and to make sound decisions expeditiously on matters that fall within its jurisdiction within statutory deadlines. In support of this priority, the Tribunal undertook a number of initiatives to improve service delivery, to ensure sound management and to invest in its people. These initiatives are discussed below. The Tribunal has been able to meet its statutory deadlines and to maintain the quality of its findings, determinations and recommendations even though some cases were particularly large and complex, and there was some bunching of cases. However, in order to do so, the Tribunal had to divert resources from appeal cases, which are not subject to statutory deadlines, resulting in delays in the issuance of appeals decisions. The Tribunal will continue to work on a more flexible and effective business and resource models in the next year, with a view to reaching its goal of meeting its internal deadlines on appeals cases.	Ongoing	Met all	Strategic outcome 1
II—Improve Service Delivery • Information Technology (IT) and System Enhancements The Tribunal postponed until 2009-2010 the strengthening of its IT architecture while it waited for the release of the findings from Round VI of the Management Accountability Assessment. From these findings, the Tribunal will assess its IT governance, changes to IT infrastructure and IT applications. A long-term strategy and work plan will be developed to address accepted recommendations. The Tribunal continued to focus on improving electronic access for external parties by identifying options to provide e-filing and electronic sharing of selected case information while protecting confidential information. • Case Process Improvements The Tribunal struck two working groups to review case processing: one on appeals and another on procurement. The recommendations of both working groups were implemented to develop standardized case management schedules, and internal briefing and drafting procedures. The Tribunal participated in a joint working group with the CBSA to examine administrative processes for the expiry review of trade remedies cases that it administers jointly with the CBSA. Options have been proposed and are being considered. One of the Tribunal’s key ongoing risks is the management of its workload during periods of peak activity. In October 2008, the Tribunal hired experts to prepare a report on risk management during peak periods. The report identified a range of mitigation strategies to respond to peak periods, which will improve its case management in peak periods.	Ongoing	Mostly met	Strategic outcome 1

Management Priorities	Type	Status	Link to Strategic Outcome
I—Invest in Its People • Recruitment, Retention, Learning and Succession Planning A continued focus was placed on the alignment of human resources management with business strategies and objectives. An integrated human resources plan was developed and implemented in 2008-2009. It identified learning and training requirements, staffing plans and succession strategies, with particular attention given to cross-training of staff in the different areas of the Tribunal’s mandate. The Tribunal focused on enhancing relationships with like organizations for the exchange of resources through secondment opportunities to cover periods of peak caseload, and implementing programs for new employees to ensure the rapid transfer of knowledge. The Tribunal is also part of a small department cooperative working on human resources issues. This cooperative has enhanced the Tribunal’s capacity of providing services to its managers and employees. Initiatives aimed at ensuring that employees have the skills required to meet the current and future requirements of the Tribunal continued to be a priority in 2008-2009. Although the project on individual learning plans was not fully completed in 2008-2009, it remains a priority for 2009-2010. During 2008-2009, the Tribunal completed a service delivery model that maps all existing training material and identified the need to develop other material. This tool will ease the transition for new employees and provide these employees, as well as current employees, with the skills required to better fulfill the Tribunal’s mandate. • Improved Tools and Services for Employees Human resources continued the movement towards electronically managed human resources services to reflect the growing need to invest in the technology and systems that will provide employees and managers access to real-time information. The on-line Human Resources Information System was made available in June 2009.	Ongoing	Mostly met	Strategic outcome 1
II—Sound Management Practices • Organizational Alignment and Improvements The Tribunal completed the implementation of its new business model. Building on the results of a preliminary capacity assessment conducted in 2007, the Tribunal expanded the scope of the assessment in 2008-2009 to include benchmarking of Tribunal practices and resource levels for its Corporate Services Branch against similar organizations in Canada. This work also included an in-depth review and assessment of the required skills and competencies required by staff, as well as existing gaps. • Accountability and Reporting The Tribunal is committed to the promotion of a corporate culture that ensures transparent management processes and accountability to the Government and the public. A number of policies and procedures were developed in 2008-2009, including on the disclosure of wrongdoing specific to the Tribunal; in support of this, the Tribunal will provide the required organizational information and training to its employees. The Tribunal is also committed to improving performance monitoring and reporting. It reviewed and upgraded its workload tracking and reporting mechanisms to facilitate on-going performance monitoring and reporting throughout the year. • Information Management The Tribunal initiated work in preparation for the review of its overall approach and policies for the retention and disposition of case records and documentation (including retention schedules). Progress was not as anticipated given staffing challenges experienced in finding resources in this field. The Tribunal will accelerate its efforts in this area in the next fiscal year.	Ongoing	Met all	Strategic outcome 1

Risk Analysis

The Tribunal’s workload of trade remedies, procurement, appeals and textile cases is externally generated through complaints filed by companies, which must be handled as soon as they are received and within statutory, government-mandated or internal deadlines. This operating environment presents three challenges for management. First, the actual caseload varies from year to year around the baseline. The caseload depends on factors outside the control of the Tribunal, such as the state of the economy. Second, the randomness of when complaints are filed often leads to the bunching of cases, i.e. there are periodic peaks of activity throughout the year that cannot be smoothed out because of statutory deadlines. Third, there is the challenge posed by the relatively small number of trade remedies cases and their high costs. Variations from the norm in terms of the number or size of cases can cause comparatively large swings in work effort.

In 2008-2009, the Tribunal focussed on strategies to mitigate its risks. Specific challenges and risks included:

Expenditure Profile

Planned and Actual Spending ($ thousands)

	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008	2008-2009
Main Estimates	9,659	10,005	10,682	10,152
Planned Spending	9,659	10,005	10,682	10,152
Total Authorities	10,949	10,243	10,980	11,009
Actual Spending	10,581	9,700	10,061	9,819

For the 2005-2006 to 2008-2009 period, total spending includes all parliamentary appropriation: Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates and Treasury Board Vote 15, and carry-forward adjustments.

The fluctuations in spending and planned spending since 2005-2006 can be explained by the three following events:

Voted and Statutory Items

This table illustrates the way in which Parliament approved the Tribunal’s resources, and shows the changes in resources derived from supplementary estimates and other authorities, as well as how funds were spent.

($ thousands)

Vote or Statutory Item	Truncated Vote or Statutory Wording	2008-2009 Main Estimates	2008-2009 Planned Spending	2008-2009 Total Authorities	2008-2009 Actual Spending
20	Program Expenditures	8,984	8,984	9,939	8,749
(S)	Contributions to Employee Benefit Plans	1,168	1,168	1,070	1,070
Total Tribunal		10,152	10,152	11,009	9,819

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