Supreme Court Justices Drop The Gloves Over Tariff Classification

Opening words of the majority decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Igloo Vikski⁴⁰

Canada (Attorney General) v. Igloo Vikski Inc.
2016 sec 38

INTRODUCTION

In Canada (Attorney General) v. Igloo Vikski Inc.⁴¹ the Supreme Court of Canada had its first opportunity to consider the appropriate tariff classification of imported goods under the harmonized system schedule ("the HS schedule") to the Customs Tariff.⁴² Although it is a given that tax legislation is complex and difficult to interpret, the HS schedule is particularly opaque, perhaps because it reflects the input and wide-ranging interests of more than 180 members of the World Customs Organization (WCO). The Igloo Vikski case delves deeply into those complex interpretive rules of tariff classification and provides guidelines on how to apply them.