Mr. Speaker, in response to (a), on July 12, 2010, Bill C-9, the Jobs and Economics Growth Act, received royal assent. This act contained the legislative amendments required to the Excise Act 2001 to implement a new stamping regime for tobacco products. Legislative amendments included a transitional period between the implementation date and March 31, 2011, during which time tobacco products may be stamped in compliance with the current stamping regime or with the new excise stamp in compliance with the new stamping regime for tobacco products.
As of September 1, 2010, the new excise stamp can be applied to tobacco products destined for the Canadian duty-paid market.
Effective April 1, 2011, all domestically manufactured tobacco products entered into the Canadian duty paid market or imported tobacco products released under the Customs Act for entry into the duty paid market must be stamped with the new excise stamp.
In response to (b), from 2005 to November 30, 2010, $1,283,099 was spent on developing and implementing the Tobacco Stamping Regime.
In response to (c), since 2005, in order to facilitate the implementation of the tobacco stamping regime and reduce the costs to industry, the CRA has carried out extensive consultations with various stakeholders including tobacco product manufacturers, Health Canada, provincial and territorial governments, enforcement bodies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canada Border Services Agency and other interested parties.
In July 2007, the CRA conducted a competitive procurement process that resulted in the award of a contract to design, produce and distribute a tobacco stamp incorporating overt and covert security features. The contract was awarded in January 2008. Once prototype stamps were available from the stamp producer, a new round of consultations were commenced to assist industry with the acquisition of stamp application equipment and testing.
Subsequently, the CRA continued to work closely with the Department of Finance to develop the required legislative and regulatory amendments that would implement the new stamping regime. In September 2009, the Minister of National Revenue released proposals to amend the Stamping and Marking of Tobacco Products Regulations to support the proposed legislative amendments. These amendments were part of Bill C-9 that was tabled in Parliament on March 4, 2010. Bill C-9 received royal assent on July 12, 2010.
The implementation date of the new stamping regime, as set out in the legislative amendments, was September 1, 2010.