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2012-13
Report on Plans and Priorities

Canadian International Trade Tribunal

The original version was signed by
The Honourable James M. Flaherty
Minister of Finance

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Table of Contents

CHAIRPERSON’S MESSAGE

SECTION I—TRIBUNAL OVERVIEW

• Raison d’être
• Responsibilities
• Strategic Outcome(s) and Program Activity Architecture
• Organizational Priorities
• Risk Analysis
• Planning Summary
• Expenditure Profile
• Estimates by Vote

SECTION II—ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

• Strategic Outcome
  • Activity No. 1—Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)
    • Program Activity Description
    • Planning Highlights
  • Activity No. 2—General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)
    • Program Activity Description
    • Planning Highlights
  • Activity No. 3—Internal Services
    • Program Activity Description
    • Planning Highlights

SECTION III—SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

• Financial Highlights
• Future-Oriented Financial Statements
• List of Supplementary Information Tables

SECTION IV—OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

• Organizational Contact Information
• Legislation Governing the Work of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal
• Tribunal Publications

CHAIRPERSON’S MESSAGE

I am pleased to present the 2012-2013 Report on Plans and Priorities (RPP) for the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the Tribunal).

The Tribunal’s mandate is to provide the fair, transparent, timely and effective disposition of international trade cases, government procurement reviews and certain appeals. The Tribunal conducts inquiries into complaints relating to unfair trading practices (i.e. dumping and subsidizing), requests for protection against rapid increases in imports (safeguards) and complaints regarding federal government procurement. The Tribunal hears appeals from decisions of the Minister of National Revenue under the Excise Tax Act and of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) under the Customs Act and the Special Import Measures Act (SIMA). In its advisory role, the Tribunal undertakes general economic inquiries for the Governor in Council and tariff references for the Minister of Finance. The Tribunal’s activities contribute to maintaining a competitive, fair and secure marketplace in Canada.

The Tribunal’s main operating challenge is managing its resources to meet the strict legislative deadlines applicable to a caseload that is unpredictable in both volume and complexity. In response, the Tribunal tracks factors that tend to influence the number and complexity of cases before it, including the state of the Canadian, U.S. and global economies, the global trade environment and Canadian government priorities.

For example, based on experience from prior recessions, the Tribunal predicted an increased caseload following the 2008 global recession and, in 2009, received Treasury Board funding for a period of two years to help it meet this challenge. However, the increased caseload only partially materialized and the additional funding expired, as planned, at the end of December 2011.

As a result, for 2012-2013, the Tribunal has re-aligned its expenditures with its normal funding level by reducing O&M spending and reallocating work within the Tribunal to promote greater efficiencies and produce cost savings.

In 2012-2013, the Tribunal expects an increase in its overall caseload. In addition to up to four expiry reviews, the Tribunal expects that current economic conditions will yield a number of new trade remedy cases. The procurement mandate will remain a significant line of business for the Tribunal in 2012-2013, even though the number of cases has returned to historical norms. The number of appeals is expected to remain high relative to historical norms. In addition, the Tribunal notes a sharp increase in the complexity of the appeal cases before it.

The Tribunal’s main priority for 2012-2013 continues to be the fair, timely and effective disposition of cases. In this regard, the Tribunal will continue to pursue initiatives aimed at further improving its management practices as well as its ability to deliver on its legislative mandates.

Of particular note, the Tribunal will continue amending its rules of procedure to further streamline proceedings and reduce the paper burden imposed on parties. A new initiative is an electronic questionnaire that will allow respondents to save time and check for errors before providing information to the Tribunal. Through these initiatives, the Tribunal will contribute to advancing government priorities by enhancing its services to Canadians, improving its accountability and ensuring the transparency of its operations.

Finally, I am pleased to report that the 2012-2013 fiscal year will see the coming into force of the Tribunal’s new Code of Conduct. The code outlines the values and principles to which we aspire and through which we intend to continue our tradition of excellence.

SECTION I—TRIBUNAL OVERVIEW

Raison d’être

Responsibilities

The Tribunal was established in December 1988 under the Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act(CITT Act). It acts as an independent investigative and quasi-judicial decision-making body that reports to Parliament through the Minister of Finance. The Tribunal also derives authority from SIMA, the Customs Act and the Excise Tax Act. The Tribunal’s office is located in Ottawa, Ontario.

The Tribunal fulfils the following roles within the Government of Canada:

• holds inquiries, under SIMA, into whether dumped or subsidized imports have caused, or are threatening to cause, injury to a domestic industry;
  
• holds inquiries into complaints by potential suppliers concerning procurement by the federal government that is covered by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (AGP), the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA), the Canada-Peru Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) and the Canada-Columbia Free Trade Agreement (CCOFTA);
  
• hears appeals from decisions of the CBSA made under the Customs Act and SIMA and of the Minister of National Revenue under the Excise Tax Act;
  
• holds inquiries into and provides advice on such economic, trade and tariff issues as are referred to the Tribunal by the Governor in Council or the Minister of Finance;
  
• undertakes investigations pursuant to requests from Canadian producers for tariff relief on imported textile inputs used in their production operations and makes recommendations to the Minister of Finance; and
  
• undertakes safeguard inquiries into complaints by domestic producers that increased imports are causing, or threatening to cause, injury to domestic producers and, if directed, makes recommendations to the Government on an appropriate remedy.
  

Strategic Outcome and Program Activity Architecture

The chart below illustrates the Tribunal’s complete framework of program activities and program sub-activities.

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Organizational Priorities

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activities
Process cases within legislative and internal deadlines and maintain quality standards	Ongoing	Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases, procurement cases and government-mandated inquiries within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction
Description
Why is this a priority? The Tribunal has a statutory obligation to hear cases and make sound decisions on matters that fall within its jurisdiction within legislative and internal deadlines. In so doing, the Tribunal supports a fair marketplace in Canada, maintains its strong reputation both within Canada and throughout the world and complies with its legislative requirements. Plans for meeting the priority In 2011-2012, as part of the Tribunal’s response to its Management Accountability Framework (MAF) assessment, the Tribunal retained an independent research firm to conduct its first client satisfaction survey. The survey measured the level of client satisfaction with the Tribunal’s services, tools and processes, and with clients’ interaction with Tribunal staff. In 2012-2013, the Tribunal will look at ways to improve the delivery of its services to its users and stakeholders based on the results of this survey. The Tribunal will continue reviewing its Rules of Procedure to further streamline proceedings, reduce the paper burden imposed on parties and increase overall efficiency and transparency while preserving procedural fairness and the protection of confidential information.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activities
Improve service delivery	Ongoing	Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases, procurement cases and government-mandated inquiries within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction
Description
Why is this a priority? The Tribunal continuously works towards improving its service delivery in order to provide efficient and reliable services to its stakeholders. Moreover, the Tribunal must protect the personal and confidential information filed by parties appearing before it. Plans for meeting the priority The Tribunal will continue to invest in information technology in order to further enhance the security of its network. The Tribunal will also continue building its off-site capacity in order to improve its business-continuity readiness. As part of the Tribunal’s information management strategy, a new structure for its corporate files, developed in 2011-2012, will be implemented in 2012-2013. A new initiative in 2012-2013 is an electronic questionnaire that will allow respondents to save time and check for errors when they provide information to the Tribunal. This will translate into significant efficiency gains for Tribunal stakeholders and the Research Branch of the Tribunal, as it will reduce the time and resources spent on entering and validating data.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activities
Invest in its people	Ongoing	Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases, procurement cases and government-mandated inquiries within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction
Description
Why is this a priority? The Tribunal’s reputation of excellence depends largely on its highly specialized workforce working closely together to deliver on its mandate. Plans for meeting the priority The Tribunal will implement its Code of Conduct, which outlines the four guiding principles of the Tribunal: Integrity, Excellence, Respect and Teamwork. The Tribunal will encourage a positive, respectful and cooperative work environment and will continue to offer professional development opportunities through an emphasis on learning, knowledge transfer and career development. As such, the Tribunal will also continue offering training to ensure that employees have the proper knowledge to do their jobs and to ensure that managers and employees are up to date with changes to the Government of Canada’s policies and procedures. During this period of anticipated high workload and budgetary constraints, the Tribunal will continue to provide to its employees the necessary support to maintain their well-being while ensuring that the Tribunal’s legislative mandates are met. For example, the Tribunal will implement initiatives adopted by management in response to the results of the Public Service Employee Survey. A new initiative for 2012-2013 is the publication of the Tribunal’s Employee Orientation Guide, which will provide information to new and existing employees regarding employee services and key Tribunal policies and guidelines.

Priority	Type	Strategic Outcome and/or Program Activities
Sound management practices	Ongoing	Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases, procurement cases and government-mandated inquiries within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction
Description
Why is this a priority? These practices form part of a group of government-wide management accountability priorities, including measures introduced under the Federal Accountability Act. The Tribunal will continue evaluating and improving its management practices to enhance its performance and accountability. Plans for meeting the priority The Tribunal will continue reviewing internal processes to find efficiencies and synergies. In 2011-2012, through an internal reorganization, the Tribunal transferred work under the procurement and appeals mandates from the Research Branch to the Legal Branch. These transfers will provide significant savings and promote greater efficiencies in the workload of the Tribunal as a whole. The Tribunal will take advantage of the findings of the core control audit conducted by the Office of the Comptroller General of the Treasury Board Secretariat in 2011-2012 to improve its internal control processes and ensure that employees who have delegated financial or HR authorities are provided with all the tools and training required. The Tribunal will also continue reducing the number of hard copies of documents being reproduced internally by encouraging staff and members to rely, to the greatest extent possible, on its electronic case management system.

Risk Analysis

Operating Environment

Economic conditions in Canada and the rest of the world are key determinants of the Tribunal’s workload.

The outlook for the global economy weakened in the final months of 2011, and the pace of recovery in Canada is likely to be more modest than previously projected.¹ The prices of non-energy commodities are expected to fall in 2012 in reaction to diminished prospects for global economic growth.²

Given this outlook, it is likely that the number of new trade remedy cases will remain at the Tribunal’s baseline level of two to four per year. In addition, the fact that four or five expiry reviews could materialize each year for the next three years means that the Tribunal will be busy in this mandate. The number of appeal cases has significantly increased in recent years and shows no signs of decreasing despite Canada’s low average tariff rates. Procurement cases are also likely to remain a significant line of business given recent trends.

The Tribunal has adjusted to the expiration of the temporary additional funding it had been receiving since 2009 by reducing its workforce and revisiting its internal processes to maximize its resource allocations across all mandates.

Challenges and Key Risks

As a result of the environmental assessment, the Tribunal has identified four key risk areas for 2012-2013.

1. Ability to maintain well-being, morale and productivity in a period of budgetary constraints

During a period of budgetary constraints, the well-being, morale and productivity of employees may be affected due to organizational changes and economic uncertainty. Proactive and timely communication with employees about the direction and challenges of the organization will be important in maintaining employee engagement.

2. Ability to deliver high-quality work in a period of increased workload and budgetary constraints

Managing a projected increase in workload with fewer resources due to budgetary constraints will increase pressure on management and staff to deliver quality and timely decisions. In response, management has undertaken a number of risk management strategies designed to manage resources better, including initiatives to improve case management.

3. Ability to continue reducing the risk of losing corporate memory due to outdated Information Management (IM) systems

Over the past two years, the Tribunal has developed a comprehensive IM action plan to address the risk of losing corporate memory due to outdated IM systems. As part of the Tribunal’s information management strategy, a new structure for its corporate files, developed in 2011-2012, will be implemented in 2012-2013.

4. Ability to continue maintaining an up-to-date IT infrastructure, efficient safeguards against cyber attacks and proper recovery processes during a period of budgetary constraints

The Auditor General’s 2010 report on aging infrastructure and the latest MAF assessment report provided the Tribunal’s management with an overview of the areas of its IT function that are at risk. The Tribunal has since invested in hardware and software to upgrade its infrastructure and implemented a new service standard to improve service delivery. To mitigate the current risks associated with IT, the Tribunal plans to invest resources to upgrade the security of its network and to continue to document its recovery procedures to improve its business continuity readiness, despite limited human and financial resources in its IT operations.

Planning Summary

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-15
9,895	9,895	9,895

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
77	77	77

Strategic Outcome: Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases, procurement cases and government-mandated inquiries within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction

Performance Indicators	Targets
Tribunal decisions overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal or international appeal bodies	Not more than 2 percent of all decisions rendered over the most recent five-year period are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies.
Soundness of the Tribunal’s decisions—Overturned decisions with “due process”	Less than 1 percent of all decisions rendered are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal or international appeal bodies on judicial review dealing specifically with “due process”.
Tribunal notices, decisions and guidelines are accessible to the public.	All notices, decisions and guidelines for all areas of its mandate and practice notices are accessible to the public through the Tribunal’s Web site, the Canada Gazette and/or MERX (Canada’s electronic tendering system).
Decisions are rendered within statutory deadlines.	All decisions are published within the statutory deadlines.
Appeal decisions are rendered within internal deadlines.	Seventy percent of decisions on appeals are published within internal deadlines.
Recommendations meet the terms of reference and provide requested information.	All recommendations and reports meet the terms of reference and provide requested information.
Reports, determinations and recommendations are published within statutory deadlines.	All reports and recommendations to the Government or the Minister of Finance are published within the statutory deadlines.

Financial Resources by Program Activity ($ thousands)

Program Activity3	Forecast Spending 2011-2012	Planned Spending			Alignment to Government of Canada Outcomes
		2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)	6,376	7,263	7,362	7,293	Fair and secure marketplace
General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)	101	89	89	89	Fair and secure marketplace
Total	6,477	7,352	7,451	7,382

Program Activity4	Forecast Spending 2011-2012	Planned Spending
		2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
Internal Services	3,644	2,543	2,444	2,513
Total	3,644	2,543	2,444	2,513

Expenditure Profile

Planned and Actual Spending ($ thousands)

	Actual Spending 2008-2009	Actual Spending 2009-2010	Actual Spending 2010-2011	Forecast Spending 2011-2012	Planned Spending 2012-2013	Planned Spending 2013-2014	Planned Spending 2014-2015
Net Cost of Program	9,819	10,952	10,922	10,121	9,895	9,895	9,895

For the 2008-2009 to 2011-2012 periods, total spending includes all parliamentary appropriations: Main Estimates, Supplementary Estimates and Treasury Board Vote 15, and carry-forward adjustments. For the 2012-2013 to 2014-2015 periods, total spending corresponds to planned spending. Supplementary funding and carry-forward adjustments are unknown at this point and are therefore not reflected. Below is a graph showing the spending trend since 2008-2009.

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The fluctuations in spending and planned spending since 2008-2009 can be explained by the fact that, from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012, the Tribunal received additional funding to cover a predicted operating budget shortfall resulting from an expected post-recession increase in caseload. The funding increase was $525,000 for 2009-2010, $2.1 million for 2010-2011 and $1.575 million for 2011-2012.

The figure below displays the percentage allocation of the Tribunal’s funding by program activity for 2012-2013.

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Estimates by Vote

For information on the Tribunal’s votes and statutory expenditures, please see the 2012-2013 Main Estimates publication. An electronic version of the Main Estimates is available at http://publiservice.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/20122013/me-bpd/info/info-eng.asp..

SECTION II—ANALYSIS OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES BY STRATEGIC OUTCOME

Strategic Outcome

Fair, timely and transparent disposition of international trade cases, procurement cases and government-mandated inquiries within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction

The following section describes the Tribunal’s program activities and identifies the expected results, performance indicators and targets for each of them. This section also explains how the Tribunal plans on meeting the expected results and presents the financial and non-financial resources that will be dedicated to each program activity.

This section contains a discussion of plans surrounding the following program activities:

• Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)
  
• General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)
  
• Internal Services

Activity No. 1—Adjudication of Trade Cases (quasi-judicial role)

Program Activity Descriptions

The Tribunal’s adjudicative mandate is to provide a fair, timely and transparent trade remedies system to Canada’s business sector, thereby preserving confidence in the Canadian market, to the benefit of Canadian businesses and consumers. The Tribunal acts as an independent, quasi-judicial decision-making body that derives its adjudication authority from the CITT Act, SIMA, the Customs Act and the Excise Tax Act. It operates within Canada’s trade remedies system, applying existing policies and laws on trade agreements seeking to address unfair competition in the domestic market or provide emergency protection against imported items that are seen to cause injury to a domestic industry. The Tribunal also hears appeals from decisions of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and the CBSA. It has also been designated as the bid challenge authority under the AIT, NAFTA, the AGP, the CCFTA, the CPFTA and the CCOFTA.

In its quasi-judicial role, the Tribunal’s caseload is comprised of the following:

• Unfair trade cases—inquiries under SIMA into whether dumped and/or subsidized imports have caused or are threatening to cause injury to a Canadian industry;
  
• Bid challenges—inquiries into complaints by potential suppliers concerning federal government procurement under NAFTA, the AIT, the AGP, the CCFTA the CPFTA and the CCOFTA;
  
• Appeals of decisions of the CBSA made under the Customs Act and SIMA, and decisions of the CRA under the Excise Tax Act; and
  
• Safeguard cases—inquiries into whether the rapid build-up of imports from China, or from around the world, is causing injury to a Canadian industry.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
7,263	7,362	7,293

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
56	57	57

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Tribunal decisions are fair, impartial and based on quality information.	Tribunal decisions are overturned by the following national and international appeal bodies: Federal Court of Appeal Binational panels under NAFTA Dispute settlement body, WTO Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes Federal Court	Not more than 2 percent of all decisions rendered over the most recent five-year period are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies.
	Soundness of the Tribunal’s decisions under judicial review that are overturned by the Federal Court of Appeal and/or international appeal bodies based on “due process” not being followed.	Less than 1 percent of all decisions on “due process” will be overturned.
	Tribunal notices, decisions and guidelines for all areas of its mandate and practice notices are accessible to the public.	All notices, practice notices, decisions and guidelines for all areas of the Tribunal’s mandate are accessible to the public.
	Decisions are issued within statutory deadlines. The Tribunal’s decisions regarding dumping and/or subsidizing, safeguard inquiries and procurement complaints are subject to statutory deadlines.	All decisions are issued within the legislated deadline.
	Appeal decisions are issued within internal deadlines. There is no statutory deadline imposed for appeals of decisions of the CBSA and Minister of National Revenue. However, the Tribunal has adopted an informal, voluntary standard of issuing such decisions within 120 days of the hearing of an appeal.	70 percent of internal deadlines are met.

Planning Highlights

In order to achieve the expected result for its quasi-judicial role, the Tribunal plans to undertake the following activities:

• Continue reviewing internal processes to find efficiencies and synergies: The Tribunal will continue the modernization of its Rules of Procedure in order to streamline proceedings, reduce the paper burden imposed on parties and increase overall efficiency and transparency while preserving procedural fairness and the protection of confidential information.
  
• The Tribunal will also continue to reduce the number of hard copies of documents that are being reproduced by encouraging staff and members to rely, to the greatest extent possible, on its case management system.
  
• A new initiative in 2012-2013 is an electronic questionnaire that will allow respondents to save time and to check for errors when they provide information to the Tribunal. This will translate into significant efficiency gains for Tribunal stakeholders and the Research Branch of the Tribunal as it will reduce the time and resources spent on entering and validating data.

Activity No. 2—General Economic Inquiries and References (advisory role)

Program Activity Descriptions

The Tribunal plays an advisory role when requested by the Government to recommend measures to alleviate injury to domestic producers pursuant to a safeguard inquiry. Periodically, the Government may also direct the Tribunal to inquire into general economic, trade or tariff matters. In such inquiries, the Tribunal has the power to conduct research, receive submissions, hold hearings and report with recommendations, as required, to the Government or the Minister of Finance. When these requests arise, the Tribunal faces a strain on its resources and must meet very strict government-imposed deadlines.

The Tribunal has received a standing reference from the Minister of Finance to investigate requests from domestic producers for tariff (import tax) relief on imported textile inputs for use in their manufacturing operations and make recommendations to the Minister that would maximize the net economic benefits to Canada.

In its advisory role, the Tribunal’s caseload is comprised of the following:

• Safeguard cases—where the Tribunal finds injury to a Canadian industry, the Governor in Council may request the Tribunal to recommend appropriate measures for dealing with the build-up of imports;
  
• General economic, trade and tariff inquiries referred by the Government—inquiries and advice on such economic, trade and tariff issues as are referred to the Tribunal by the Governor in Council or the Minister of Finance; and
  
• Standing tariff reference referred by the Minister of Finance—investigations into requests from Canadian producers for tariff relief on imported textile inputs that they use in their production.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
89	89	89

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
1	1	1

Program Activity Expected Results	Performance Indicators	Targets
Tribunal recommendations on economic, trade, tariff matters and the standing textile reference are fair, impartial and based on quality information.	Recommendations meet the terms of reference and provide requested information. An indicator of the soundness of the Tribunal’s decisions is the number of requests for additional information from the Minister of Finance.	All recommendations meet the terms of reference.
	Reports, decisions and recommendations are published within government-mandated deadlines. The Tribunal’s recommendations regarding the tariff reference and economic inquiries are subject to statutory deadlines.	All recommendations are published within statutory deadlines.

Planning Highlights

During the 2011-2012 fiscal year, the Tribunal did not receive any new requests for tariff relief on textile inputs. However, the Tribunal still allocated modest human and financial resources to this program activity to maintain a core level of knowledge and expertise in this highly specialized area should the need again arise. Further, the Tribunal is required to report on the standing textile reference in its annual report.

Activity No. 3—Internal Services

Program Activity Descriptions

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are Management and Oversight Services, Communications Services, Legal Services, Human Resources Management Services, Financial Management Services, Information Management Services, Information Technology Services, Real Property Services, Materiel Services, Acquisition Services, and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not those that apply specifically to a program.

Financial Resources ($ thousands)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
2,543	2,444	2,513

Human Resources (full-time equivalents)

2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015
20	19	19

Planning Highlights

The Tribunal’s planning highlights for Internal Services include the following:

• Supporting its employees during a period of high workload and budgetary constraints: During this period of high workload and budgetary constraints, the Tribunal will be providing its employees with the necessary support to maintain employee well-being and morale while ensuring that the Tribunal’s responsibilities under its legislative mandate are met. With recent changes in internal and case processes and the Tribunal’s organizational design, the HR section will be reviewing employee classifications to ensure that individual positions accurately reflect the incumbent’s tasks and responsibilities. The Tribunal will also continue to offer training to ensure that employees have the proper tools to do their jobs and to ensure that managers and employees are up to date with changes to policies and procedures.
  
• Continuation of investments in IM/IT: The Tribunal plans to continue to invest in its security systems and implement enhanced monitoring measures. The Tribunal will also implement a desktop security program and assure the segregation of the Tribunal’s network in order to minimize the propagation of unwanted threats from within the network. The IT section will also continue to document its recovery procedures and build its off-site capacity in order to improve its business-continuity readiness. The Tribunal will also continue to develop its IM strategy in order to minimize the loss of corporate memory due to outdated IM systems. As part of the Tribunal’s IM strategy, a new structure for its corporate files, developed in 2011-2012, will be implemented in 2012-2013.

SECTION III—SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

Financial Highlights

The future-oriented financial highlights presented in this Report on Plans and Priorities are intended to serve as a general overview of the Tribunal’s financial operations. They are prepared on an accrual basis to strengthen accountability and improve transparency and financial management.

Future-oriented financial statements can be found on the Tribunal’s Web site at http://www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/publicat/index5_e.asp

Future-Oriented Financial Statements

Condensed Statement of Operations for the Year Ending March 31 ($ thousands)

	Change	Future-Oriented 2012-2013	Future-Oriented 2011-2012
Total Expenses	-2%	12,615	12,884
Total Revenues	0%	1	1
Net Cost of Operations	-2%	12,614	12,883

The estimated total net cost of operations for the Tribunal for fiscal year 2012-2013 is $12.614 million, which includes $2.845 million of services rendered without charge. It is anticipated that the total will be allocated as follows: $9.208 million, or 73 percent of total net cost of operations, for the Tribunal's main program activity, which is the adjudication of trade cases; $126,000, or 1 percent of total net cost of operations, for general economic inquiries and references; and $3.280 million, or 26 percent of total net cost of operations, for internal services.

Condensed Statement of Financial Position for the Year Ending
March 31 ($ thousands)

	$ Change	Future-Oriented 2012-2013	Future-Oriented 2011-2012
Total assets	-16%	951	1,129
Total liabilities	-7%	1,938	2,079
Equity	-4%	(987)	(950)
Total	-16%	951	1,129

It should be noted that the Tribunal operates in a centralized environment where many costs normally assumed by line managers are covered by corporate services and are not reallocated to individual program activities (e.g. desktop computers, printers, cellular telephones, furniture and equipment, supplies, printing, messenger services and telecommunications).

List of Supplementary Information Tables

All electronic supplementary information tables found in the 2012-13 Report on Plans and Priorities can be found on the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's web site:

• Greening Government Operations (GGO)

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SECTION IV—OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST

Organizational Contact Information

The Secretary
Canadian International Trade Tribunal
Standard Life Centre
333 Laurier Avenue West
17th Floor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G7

Telephone: 613-993-3595
Fax: 613-998-1322
E-mail: secretary@citt-tcce.gc.ca

Tribunal’s Web site: http://www.citt-tcce.gc.ca

Legislation Governing the Work of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal

Canadian International Trade Tribunal Act	R.S.C. 1985 (4th Supp.), c. 47
Customs Act	R.S.C. 1985 (2d Supp.), c. 1
Excise Tax Act	R.S.C. 1985, c. E-15
Special Import Measures Act	R.S.C. 1985, c. S-15
Energy Administration Act	R.S.C. 1985, c. E-6
Canadian International Trade Tribunal Regulations	S.O.R./89-35
Canadian International Trade Tribunal Procurement Inquiry Regulations	S.O.R./93-602
Canadian International Trade Tribunal Rules	S.O.R./91-499

Tribunal Publications

For a complete list of Tribunal publications, please see the Tribunal’s Web site at http://www.citt-tcce.gc.ca/publicat/index_e.asp.

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¹ . Bank of Canada, Monetary Policy Report, January 2012, at 1

² . Ibid. at 15-16.

³ . For program activity descriptions, please access the Main Estimates online at http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/est-pre/index-eng.asp.

⁴ . Ibid.