Tobacco Charges Regulations – Compliance promotion
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Introduction
Bill C-59, the Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023, amended the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act (TVPA) to include provisions that enable the Minister to make regulations respecting fees or charges to be paid by tobacco and vaping product manufacturers. It also provides new authorities for related compliance and enforcement tools to implement tobacco and vaping cost recovery frameworks.
Bill C-69, the Budget Implementation Act, 2024, No. 1 included additional amendments to authorize the provision of customs information collected under the Customs Act to Health Canada. It also included provisions to allow certain information collected under the Excise Act, 2001 to be provided to Health Canada for the purposes of the administration or enforcement of the TVPA. Both Bill C-59 and Bill C-69 received Royal Assent on June 20, 2024.
The Tobacco Charges Regulations set out the requirements for designated manufacturers, including importers, to pay an annual charge to recover the costs of tobacco-related activities undertaken by the Government of Canada in relation to the carrying out of the purpose of the TVPA.
For the purposes of the Tobacco Charges Regulations, a designated manufacturer means an entity in Canada that manufactures or imports tobacco products for retail sale in Canada. It does not include an entity that only packages, labels or distributes those tobacco products.
Responsibilities of designated manufacturers
As a designated manufacturer (herein referred to as the “manufacturer”) in Canada, you are responsible for:
- Submitting a statement of sales and revenue no later than April 30 of each fiscal year that accounts for your tobacco product net sales revenue in the previous fiscal year
- Paying an annual charge in full no later than November 30 of the fiscal year in which it was charged
As a regulated party, it is your responsibility to ensure that you understand how the law applies to you, and to ensure your products, activities, and processes comply with the TVPA, its regulations, and all other applicable laws in Canada.
Failure by a manufacturer to submit the information required by the Tobacco Charges Regulations, such as the statement of sales and revenue, or to pay the annual charge that is invoiced could result in an order by the Minister to prohibit the sale of one or more tobacco products by a manufacturer. The penalties for not complying with the Tobacco Charges Regulations are set out under Part VI of the TVPA. Every manufacturer who contravenes an order made under subsection 42.16(1) of the TVPA is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000. As well, every manufacturer that contravenes the document retention requirements at subsection 42.12(1) or (2) of the TVPA is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000.
Additionally, interest charges would begin to accrue if payment in full is not received for invoiced annual charges by the due date, as per the Interest and Administrative Charges Regulations.
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Email: tcr-rct@hc-sc.gc.ca
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