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Bill S-22

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EXAMINATION OF GOODS

Examination of goods

25. (1) A preclearance officer may examine any goods that are submitted for preclearance, and may open or cause to be opened any package or container and take samples of the goods in reasonable amounts.

Examination of currency and monetary instruments

(2) A preclearance officer may examine currency and monetary instruments that are found in a preclearance area.

Right to detain goods

26. (1) A preclearance officer

    (a) may detain any goods that are submitted for preclearance, until the officer is satisfied that the goods have been dealt with in accordance with this Act, the regulations and preclearance laws; or

    (b) may detain anything designated by regulations under paragraph 38(1)(d), and must without delay transfer that thing to a Canadian officer.

Detention mandatory

(2) A preclearance officer must detain anything the possession, import, export or handling of which the officer believes on reasonable grounds to be an offence under Canadian law punishable by indictment or on summary conviction and anything that the officer believes on reasonable grounds will afford evidence of that offence, and must without delay transfer anything so detained to a Canadian officer who is authorized to receive it.

Seizure of goods

27. (1) A preclearance officer may seize any goods referred to in paragraph 26(1)(a) that the officer believes on reasonable grounds relate to a false or deceptive statement made in contravention of section 33.

Seizure of evidence

(2) A preclearance officer may, if the officer believes on reasonable grounds that there has been a contravention of section 33, seize any goods that the officer believes on reasonable grounds will afford evidence of the contravention.

Forfeiture of seized goods

28. Subject to subsection 26(2), goods lawfully seized by a preclearance officer under this Act are subject to forfeiture procedures under preclearance laws.

PASSENGER INFORMATION

Definition of ``specified passenger information''

29. For the purposes of sections 30 to 32, ``specified passenger information'' means information prescribed by regulations under paragraph 38(1)(c) about any person who is travelling by aircraft to the United States and whose travel route provides for arrival in Canada in an intransit area.

Duty to provide specified passenger information

30. (1) A transportation company that operates an aircraft carrying passengers described in section 29 must, before the arrival of the aircraft in Canada, provide a preclearance officer with specified passenger information for those passengers.

Failure to provide specified passenger information

(2) If a transportation company fails to provide the information required under subsection (1), the preclearance officer may refuse to preclear the passengers or their goods in an intransit area.

Use of specified passenger information

31. (1) A preclearance officer may use specified passenger information for the purposes of discharging their duties under this Act and preclearance laws, and may

    (a) examine the information for travel methods, behaviours or patterns for the purpose of applying the appropriate preclearance measures in respect of passengers and their goods; and

    (b) search and match data contained in the information with other data available to the officer.

Disclosure of information to a Canadian officer

(2) A preclearance officer may disclose to a Canadian officer any specified passenger information and any of the preclearance officer's findings with respect to the information, to the extent that the information is required by the Canadian officer for the performance of the duties of the Canadian officer, and to the extent that the Canadian officer is authorized by law to have access to the information.

Use and destruction of passenger information

32. (1) A preclearance officer must

    (a) use any specified passenger information only in the administration and enforcement of this Act and preclearance laws; and

    (b) destroy specified passenger information within 24 hours after the officer obtains it, unless the information is reasonably required for the administration or enforcement of Canadian law or preclearance laws.

Duty to protect information

(2) A preclearance officer must take reasonable measures to protect specified passenger information that is under the officer's control from unauthorized use and disclosure.

OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENT

False or deceptive statements

33. (1) Every person who makes an oral or written statement to a preclearance officer with respect to the preclearance of the person or any goods for entry into the United States that the person knows to be false or deceptive or to contain information that the person knows is false or deceptive is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a maximum fine of $5,000.

No imprisonm-
ent on default of payment of fine

(2) Notwithstanding subsection 787(2) of the Criminal Code, a term of imprisonment may not be imposed for default of payment of a fine imposed under subsection (1).

No criminal record

(3) An offence under subsection (1) does not constitute an offence for the purposes of the Criminal Records Act.

Obstruction of officer

34. Every person who resists or wilfully obstructs a preclearance officer or a Canadian officer in the execution of the officer's duty or any person lawfully acting in aid of such an officer

    (a) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years; or

    (b) is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Unauthorized use of specified passenger information

35. Every person who fails to comply with the provisions of section 32 is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 12 months, or to both.

CIVIL LIABILITY AND IMMUNITY

Relief against the United States

36. (1) An action or other proceeding of a civil nature, in which the United States is not immune under the State Immunity Act from the jurisdiction of a court in Canada, may be brought against the United States in respect of anything that is, or is purported to be, done or omitted to be done within the scope of their duties by a preclearance officer.

Immunity

(2) No action or other proceeding of a civil nature may be brought against a preclearance officer in respect of anything that is done or omitted to be done by the officer under this Act or the regulations.

Crown Liability and Proceedings Act

(3) For greater certainty, a preclearance officer is not a servant of the Crown for the purposes of the Crown Liability and Proceedings Act.

Persons assisting preclearance officers

(4) For the purposes of this section, the term ``preclearance officer'' includes any person who assists a preclearance officer at the officer's request, but does not include a Canadian officer.

Decisions not reviewable

37. No decision of a preclearance officer to refuse preclearance, or to refuse the admission of persons or the importation of goods to the United States, is subject to judicial review in Canada.

REGULATIONS

Regulations

38. (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act, including regulations

    (a) excluding anything from the definition of ``goods'' in section 2;

    (b) designating the persons or categories of persons who may enter a preclearance area;

    (c) prescribing specified passenger information, the manner of providing it, and the purpose for which, and the manner in which, a preclearance officer may use and communicate that information;

    (d) designating anything the possession, import, export or handling of which is prohibited, controlled or regulated by or under this or any other Act of Parliament;

    (e) providing for the manner of disposing of detained, seized or forfeited goods; and

    (f) prescribing anything that by this Act is to be prescribed.

Amendment of schedule

(2) The Minister may, by order, amend the schedule by adding or deleting any law of the United States with respect to customs, immigration, public health, food inspection and plant and animal health that is applicable to the admission of travellers or the importation of goods to the United States.

FIVE-YEAR REVIEW

Review

39. Five years after this Act comes into force, the Minister shall cause an independent review of the Act and its administration and operation to be conducted, and shall cause a report on the review to be laid before each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the review is completed.

COMING INTO FORCE

Coming into force

40. This Act or any of its provisions comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

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