CANADA preferential sourcing policies favoring Canadian-based firms over foreign-based firms. These preferential policies include: -restricting bids to Canadian suppliers if there is -use of single-source procurement to favor Canadian -application of a 10 percent price preference for In addition, Supply and Services Canada, the major Federal procurement agency, maintains a supplier development fund to promote new Canadian sources of supply. Canada's Federal and Provincial crown (government-owned) corporations also follow strong "buy national" or "buy provincial" policies. Products affected include telecommunications, heavy electrical and transportation-related products. Canada pursues an "industrial benefits policy" which is administered through a procurement review mechanism. The policy is intended to insure that major government procurement projects provide long-term benefits for "the economic or social development of Canada" beyond the immediate impact of the procurement expenditures. Frequently resulting in "offsets," this policy is one of Canada's most objectionable government procurement practices. 6. Export Subsidies The Canadian government subsidizes rail transportation of western grown wheat, barley, oats and many other agricultural commodities intended for export. In 1984, the Canadian government extended rail rate subsidies to exports of these and an enlarged list of commodities destined to the western United States. The Free Trade Agreement eliminated subsidies on agricultural products shipped to the United States through West Coast ports, though not on shipments to third markets or through Thunder Bay. Under the terms of the FTA, Canada will terminate all export-based duty remission schemes by 1998. In the interim, Canada has excluded exports to the U.S. in calculating the duty waived. Canada's production-based duty remission program provides for the rebate of customs duties to qualifying foreign automobile firms on their imports of automobiles and original equipment automotive parts into Canada. Under the program, duty remissions are granted in proportion to the amount of "Canadian value-added" generated by these firms in Canada. Under the provisions of the FTA, Canada has agreed to terminate the program by 1996 or any earlier date specifically agreed with participating firms and to limit application of the program to four companies. The U.S. has sought access to Canadian data to confirm Canadian compliance with this process. CANADA 7. Protection of U.S. Intellectual Property Because of continued inadequacy in patent protection for pharmaceuticals, the U.S. Trade Representative in 1991 again placed Canada (together with 16 other countries) on the "Watch List" under Section 301 of the 1988 Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act. In most other major areas of intellectual property protection, however, U.S. and Canadian authorities have similar concerns and approaches to standards and means of protection. In general, Canada has historically been committed to a meaningful intellectual property protection regime. The Canadian Patents Act, first passed in 1869, was most recently amended on November 19, 1987. By significantly improving protection for patented drugs, this amendment was a positive step in resolving some of the complaints voiced by the U.S. pharmaceutical industry concerning alleged Canadian bias in favor of generic drugs. However, the law still contains compulsory licensing for pharmaceuticals. These provisions are discriminatory as drugs invented in Canada are exempt from some types of compulsory licensing while drugs invented abroad are not. Another remaining concern is the lack of adequate legislation to protect semiconductor design topographies. Canadian authorities are addressing U.S. concerns in these areas in both the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS) portion of the GATT Uruguay Round negotiations, and the trilateral NAFTA talks; Canadian and U.S. authorities agree on the need for viable standards in this high tech area. Copyright legislation has been strengthened. The amendment of June 8, 1988 to the Canadian Copyright Act provided explicit protection to computer programs, increased criminal penalties for commercial piracy, and clarified several ambiguities in the extent of the coverage provided by the earlier copyright and industrial design protection statutes. A further copyright amendment has been enacted acknowledging compensation rights for U.S. copyright holders whose radio and television signals are being retransmitted into Canada from the United States by Canadian cable operators. The measure, introduced in compliance with the terms of the Free Trade Agreement, fell short of U.S. expectations regarding the extent of the signal that would be subject to copyright protection. However, the law did establish a Copyright Board to adjudicate claims. In October 1990 the Board announced its schedule of compensation tariffs for 1990 and 1991. The tariffs were subsequently confirmed by the Canadian government. The copyright board is conducting hearings to establish tariffs for 1992. Regarding multilateral efforts to strengthen intellectual property protection, Canada has generally shared the views of the United States. Most recently, Canadian authorities have been working together with the United States to bring about a stricter regulatory regime in the context of the Uruguay Round. Workers in both the public and private sectors have the right to associate freely. These rights, protected by both the federal labor code and provincial labor legislation, are freely exercised. All workers except certain groups of essential civil servants have the right to strike. b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively Workers in both the public and private sectors freely exercise their rights to organize and bargain collectively. Some essential public sector employees have limited collective bargaining rights which vary from province to province. Thirty six and one half percent of Canada's non-agricultural workforce is organized into trade unions. Antiunion discrimination is banned by law, and there are effective mechanisms for resolving complaints. c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor Forced or compulsory labor is illegal and not practiced. d. Minimum Age Employment of Children Generally, workers must be 17 years of age to work. Provincial standards vary, but generally require parental consent for workers under 15 or 16 and prohibit young workers in dangerous or nighttime work. e. Acceptable Conditions of Work Federal and provincial labor codes establish labor standards governing maximum hours, minimum wages and safety standards. Those standards are respected in practice. f. Rights in Sectors with U.S. Investments Worker rights are the same in all sectors, including those with U.S. investment. |