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SECTION II—ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

Overall Performance Expectations

The Tribunal has a single strategic outcome: fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases and government-requested inquiries into economic, trade and tariff matters within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The results to be achieved in support of this strategic outcome are that Tribunal’s decisions and recommendations are fair, transparent and impartial (and are viewed to be so by stakeholders) and are made available to interested parties and to the public, in both official languages, to meet legislative deadlines through the most efficient means at its disposal. The Tribunal has two program activities that contribute to the above results: the adjudication of trade cases (quasi-judicial role) and general economic inquiries and references (advisory role). The relationship between the program activities, expected results and strategic outcome, as well as the performance indicators associated with these results, is summarized in the chart below.

Summary Performance Measurement Framework

Described below, for both program activities, are the performance objectives that the Tribunal is striving to achieve and the manner in which the Tribunal’s plans and priorities discussed earlier support these performance objectives. The performance objectives vary somewhat in application depending on the nature of the program activity, i.e. the adjudication of trade cases or general economic inquiries and references.

Activity No. 1—Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)

The adjudication of trade cases is a quasi-judicial activity that includes unfair trade cases, appeals from decisions of the CBSA and the CRA, safeguard inquiries and bid challenges relating to federal government procurement.

Financial Resources: ($ thousands)

2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
9,969	9,969	9,969

Human Resources: (FTEs)

2008-2009	2009-2010	2010-2011
75	75	75

Expected Results: Tribunal decisions are fair, impartial and based on quality information.

• Tribunal decisions overturned by national and international appeal bodies. The Tribunal’s decisions on dumping and subsidizing matters may be reviewed by the Federal Court of Appeal or a binational panel under NAFTA in the case of a decision affecting U.S. and/or Mexican goods. WTO Member States whose goods are affected by a Tribunal decision may also initiate dispute settlement proceedings under the WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, if they believe that the Tribunal’s procedures violated the WTO anti-dumping agreement or the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. The Tribunal’s decisions on appeals may be appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal or, in the case of the Excise Tax Act, the Federal Court. The Tribunal monitors whether its decisions have been the subject of applications for judicial review or appeals before these bodies. It determines, based on the issues raised in these applications, whether it will seek intervener status before the Federal Court of Appeal. It automatically has standing in any binational panel review under NAFTA. An indicator that the Tribunal’s decisions are fair, impartial and based on quality information is the percentage of all Tribunal decisions rendered that are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies. Our performance target for this indicator is that less than 2 percent of all Tribunal decisions rendered will be overturned.

Another indicator of the soundness of the Tribunal’s decisions is the percentage of all decisions under judicial review that are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies based on “due process” not being followed. Our performance target for this indicator is that less than 1 percent of all decisions on due process will be overturned.

• Information on Tribunal notices, decisions, guidelines for all areas of the mandate and practice notices is accessible to the public. The Tribunal strives to ensure that information is readily accessible to its stakeholders in a timely manner. Our performance target for this indicator is that 100 percent of notices, practice notices, decisions and guidelines for all areas of our mandate are accessible to the public.

• Decisions are published within statutory deadlines. The Tribunal’s decisions regarding dumping and/or subsidizing, safeguard inquiries and procurement complaints are subject to statutory deadlines. The Tribunal’s first priority is therefore to ensure that these decisions are fair and impartial and issued within these deadlines. The Tribunal has implemented strong case management controls to ensure that it is able to meet these deadlines and does extensive tracking of the status of cases to ensure close adherence to prescribed deadlines. Detailed internal reports exist on the status of cases. Our performance target for this indicator is that 100 percent of all decisions will be published within the legislated deadline.

• Appeal decisions are issued within internal deadlines. There is no statutory deadline imposed for the decisions on appeals of the CBSA and CRA decisions. However, the Tribunal has adopted an informal, voluntary standard of publishing such decisions within 120 days of the hearing of an appeal. Tribunal management closely monitors these files to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that the Tribunal adheres to this standard. Our performance target for this indicator is that 70 percent of internal deadlines will be met.

Activity No. 2—General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)

General economic inquiries and references are advisory activities of the Tribunal. These include general economic inquiries referred by the Government and tariff references referred by the Minister of Finance.

Financial Resources: ($ thousands)

2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
183	183	183

Human Resources: (FTEs)

2007-2008	2008-2009	2009-2010
2	2	2

Expected Results: Recommendations are fair, impartial and based on quality information.

Key performance objectives are similar to those outlined above and include:

• Recommendations meet the terms of reference and provide requested information. An indicator of the soundness of the Tribunal’s determinations is the number of requests for additional information from the Minister of Finance. Our performance target for this indicator is that 100 percent of our recommendations meet the terms of reference.

• Reports, determinations and recommendations are published within government-mandated deadlines. The Tribunal’s recommendations regarding tariff references and economic inquiries are subject to government-mandated deadlines. The Tribunal has implemented strong case management controls to ensure that it is able to meet these deadlines and does extensive tracking of the status of cases. Our performance target for this indicator is that 100 percent of our recommendations are published within statutory deadlines.

Risk Management Practices

The Tribunal faces risks and challenges that could impact on the organization’s ability to achieve its mandate. As part of the planning process, a risk assessment is conducted, and managers are aware of these risks and challenges. They are expected to take appropriate action to mitigate the risks while ensuring the delivery of the Tribunal’s mandate. Risks and related strategies are also discussed at regular Executive Committee meetings.

In delivering on its mandate, the Tribunal faces several key human resources and IT challenges in the coming year. The Tribunal is addressing these challenges as management priorities. A more detailed description of plans to address these issues is included in Section I.

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