Date:
20140923
Docket: A-369-13
Citation: 2014
FCA 208
CORAM:
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NOËL J.A.
GAUTHIER
J.A.
NEAR J.A.
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BETWEEN:
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PRESIDENT OF THE CANADA BORDER SERVICES
AGENCY
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Appellant
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and
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EURO-LINE APPLIANCES INC.
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Respondent
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REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
NOËL J.A.
[1]
This is an appeal brought by
the President of the Canada Border Services Agency (the CBSA) against a
decision of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (the CITT) allowing an
appeal by Euro-Line Appliances Inc. (the respondent) with respect to the tariff
classification of Liebherr-manufactured refrigerator-freezer model CS2060 (the
goods in issue).
CONTEXT AND ISSUES
[2]
The goods in issue are
36-inch wide freestanding units with one door to access the refrigerator
compartment above and two drawers below, which act as the containers of the
freezer department. They feature separate compressors for the refrigeration and
freezing functions, and are sold for household use.
[3]
Further to a request for an
advance ruling, the CBSA determined that the goods in issue were to be
classified under tariff item No. 8418.10.90 of the schedule to the Customs
Tariff, S.C. 1997, c. 36 (the Customs Tariff) as “other [combined
refrigerator-freezers, fitted with separate external doors]” (the text of the
relevant Customs Tariff provisions is set out in the annex to these reasons).
On appeal, the CITT, focusing on the fact that the freezer portion of the goods
in issue were fitted with drawers rather than doors, held that they were
properly classified under tariff item No. 8418.69.90 as “other [refrigerating
or freezing equipment]”. In so holding, the CITT rejected the CBSA’s
alternative contention that the goods in issue should be classified as
“[r]efrigerators, household type: compression type” under tariff item No.
8418.21.00.
[4]
The CBSA does not challenge
the finding that the goods in issue cannot be classified under tariff item No.
8418.10.90 because they are fitted with drawers rather than doors. The dispute
before us now turns on Section Note 3 to Section XVI (Section Note 3) which,
according to the CBSA, required the CITT to apply subheading No. 8418.21. This
note provides:
Unless the context otherwise requires, composite machines consisting of two or more
machines fitted together to form a whole and other machines designed for the
purpose of performing two or more complementary or alternative functions are
to be classified as if consisting only of that component or as being that
machine which performs the principal function.
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Sauf dispositions contraires, les combinaisons de
machines d'espèces différentes destinées à fonctionner ensemble et ne
constituant qu'un seul corps, ainsi que les machines conçues pour assurer
deux ou plusieurs fonctions différentes, alternatives ou complémentaires,
sont classées suivant la fonction principale qui caractérise l'ensemble.
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[my emphasis]
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The Explanatory Note to
Section XVI (the Explanatory Note) specifies that Section Note 3 does not apply
– i.e.: “the context otherwise requires” – when
a “composite machine is covered as such (“comme telle” in the French text) by a particular heading”
[my emphasis].
[5]
The CITT declined to apply
Section Note 3 for two reasons. Purporting to rely on its prior decision in Costco
Wholesale Canada Ltd. v. President of the CBSA, AP-2011-009 [Costco]
as a precedent, the CITT first held that “the context
otherwise requires” because the goods in issue were covered “as such” by
subheading No. 8418.69. In coming to this conclusion, the CITT rejected CBSA’s
contention that subheading No. 8418.69 cannot apply because it covers
“refrigerating or freezing equipment” [my emphasis]. According to the
CITT, the word “or” as it appears in heading No. 84.18 is conjunctive rather
than disjunctive.
[6]
In what amounts to an
alternative finding, the CITT opined in a footnote that Section Note 3 could
not apply in any event, because neither the freezer nor refrigerator component
of the goods in issue is subordinate to the other so that neither “performs the
principal function”.
[7]
In support of its appeal,
the CBSA contends that the CITT misconstrued Section Note 3 as well as the word
“or” in heading No. 84.18. It asks this court to hold that the CITT erred in
not applying Section Note 3 and declare that the goods in issue are properly
classified under tariff item No. 8418.21.00.
[8]
For the reasons which
follow, I am of the view that the appeal must fail, but for reasons which
differ, in part, from those of the CITT.
ARGUMENTS ON APPEAL
The CBSA
[9]
The CBSA argues that the
CITT fundamentally erred by reading the exception to Section Note 3 too
broadly. Specifically, the CBSA argues that the phrase “[u]nless
the context otherwise requires” contemplates the existence of a specific
subheading that names or describes the composite goods. It follows that a
residual subheading, such as subheading No. 8418.69, cannot justify a refusal
to give effect to Section Note 3.
[10]
Were it otherwise argues the
CBSA, Section Note 3 would never find application as the residual provision at
any given level would always preclude the application of this Note.
[11]
The CBSA bolsters the view
that coverage under residual provisions cannot engage the exception to Section
Note 3 by reference to the Explanatory Note, which states that the exception
applies when a “composite machine is covered as such
by a particular heading” [my emphasis]. Relying on a dictionary
entry defining the phrase “as such” to mean “as being
what has been indicated or named …”, the CBSA argues that a residual
subheading will necessarily fall short of this definition, as a residual subheading
by virtue of its reason for being (i.e. to catch all goods included in
the heading which are not specifically named or described) will never refer to
specific goods.
[12]
The CBSA reinforces this
interpretation of the Explanatory Note with several examples of headings the
CBSA suggests would cover a particular composite machine “as such”. The first
of these is in fact drawn from a fuller quote from the Explanatory Note itself,
which reads in the paragraph in question:
Note 3 to Section XVI need not be invoked when the
composite machine is covered as such by a particular heading, for example,
some types of air conditioning machines (heading 84.15).
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Le recours à la Note 3 de la Section XVI n’est pas
nécessaire lorsque la combinaison de machines est couverte comme telle
par une position distincte, ce qui est le cas, par exemple, de certains
groupes pour le conditionnement de l’air (no 84.15).
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[Emphasis by CBSA]
[13]
The CBSA further provides
language from heading No. 84.15, to which the Explanatory Note refers:
Air-conditioning machines, comprising a motor-driven fan
and elements for changing the temperature and humidity, including those
machines in which humidity cannot be separately regulated.
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Machines et appareils pour le conditionnement de l’air
comprenant un ventilateur à moteur et des dispositifs propres à modifier la
température et l’humidité, y compris ceux dans lesquels le degré
hygrométrique n’est pas réglable séparément.
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[14]
The CBSA offers four more
examples of similarly specific headings from the Customs Tariff (CBSA’s
memorandum at para. 38). The CBSA compares the specificity of the language in
these headings to the broad language in subheading No. 8418.69, arguing that
the contrast supports the narrower interpretation of the exception to Section
Note 3 which would preclude the possibility of a residual provision covering
any particular goods “as such”.
[15]
The CBSA further relies on
two prior decisions where the CITT applied Section Note 3, even though there
existed a residual provision that could have, on the interpretation of the CITT
in the case at bar, covered the goods in issue (Royal telecom Inc. v. Canada
(National Revenue), AP-90-027 (CITT) and Panasonic Canada Inc. v. Canada
(Border Services), AP-2005-035 (CITT)).
[16]
According to the CBSA, the
prior decision of the CITT in Costco does not support the view that a
residual provision can exclude the application of Section Note 3 as the goods
in issue in that case were expressly described in the language of the heading
ultimately applied.
[17]
With respect to the CITT’s
principal function analysis, the CBSA reiterates before us the marketing and
storage capacity arguments put before and rejected by the CITT. These arguments
are set out more fully in the analysis which follows.
[18]
Finally, with respect to the
CITT’s analysis of the word “or” in heading No. 84.18, the CBSA simply asserts
that the CITT’s conclusion was unreasonable, and provides no supporting reasons
other than to say in effect that “or means or”.
The
respondent
[19]
In response, the respondent
supports the decision of the CITT by essentially insisting on the
reasonableness of the reasons that it gave.
[20]
With respect to the CITT’s
refusal to apply Section Note 3, the respondent insists that although
subheading No. 8418.69 merely reads “other”, a contextual reading of the
subheading reveals that it includes all goods which come within the language of
heading No. 84.18, but not within any of the heading’s subheadings.
[21]
According to the respondent,
the decision of the CITT does not leave Section Note 3 meaningless. Rather, the
CITT gave Section Note 3 meaning, but simply decided that it did not apply in
the circumstances of this case.
ANALYSIS AND DISPOSITION
[22]
The standard of review
applicable to decisions of the CITT pertaining to tariff classification is
reasonableness (see for instance President of the Canada Border Services
Agency v. Saf-Holland Canada Ltd., 2014 FCA 3 [Saf-Holland]). This
standard applies to decisions involving the construction of Customs Tariff
provisions as well as Section Notes and Explanatory Notes.
[23]
The decision of the CITT
will meet the test of reasonableness “if it falls
within a range of possible, acceptable outcomes that are defensible in respect
of the facts and law, and the reasons establish ‘justification, transparency
and intelligibility within the decision-making process’” (Saf-Holland
at para. 5, citing Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, 2008 SCC 9 at para. 47).
[24]
Having regard to the reasons
of the CITT and the arguments raised by the parties, the questions which must
be answered are, in order:
1) Is the word “or” in heading No. 84.18
conjunctive so as to allow the goods in issue which perform both a
refrigerating and a freezing function to be classified under the “other” such
equipment of subheading No. 8418.69?
2) Does the fact that the goods in issue come
within the residual description set out in subheading No. 8418.69 and not
within any other specific subheading provide a contextual reason for not
applying Section Note 3?
3) Do the freezer and refrigerator components of
the goods in issue have equally important functions so as to make the principal
function test set out in Section Note 3 inapplicable?
First
question
[25]
Turning to the first
question, the CITT provided three separate justifications for concluding that
the word “or” operates conjunctively rather than disjunctively for the purposes
of applying subheading No. 8418.69. The CITT first noted that legislation often
uses the word in this sense (reasons at para. 63, citing Ruth Sullivan, Sullivan
on the Construction of Statutes, 5th ed., Markham: Lexis Nexis
(2008) at 82); the CITT added that subheading No. 8418.69, by its residual
nature, is intended to serve an inclusive purpose; finally, the CITT referred
to the French language version of heading No. 84.18 (reasons at para. 64,
citing the French text of the heading, which covers “[a]utres matériels, machines et appareils pour la
production du froid” [emphasis
by CITT]). Relying on the shared meaning, the CITT concluded that the word “or”
in the English text was conjunctive rather than disjunctive.
[26]
While each of the first two
justifications, relating respectively to standard legislative usage and
legislative intent, would on its own provide an intelligible and plausible
basis for an inclusive reading, the third justification goes further, providing
a compelling and conclusive answer to the question at hand.
[27]
The CBSA does not explain
why the shared meaning rule should not be applied in this case. According to
this rule, where, in a given case, a provision allows for multiple
interpretations in one language, but allows for only one in the other, the
“common meaning” prevails. Indeed, this rule was applied by this Court in a
tariff classification matter in Deltonic Trading Corp. v. Deputy Minister of
National Revenue, Customs & Excise, (1990), 113 N.R. 7; 3 T.C.T.
5173 (F.C.A.).
[28]
In my view, the CITT’s
interpretation of the word “or” for the purposes of applying subheading No.
8418.69 easily meets the test of reasonableness.
Second
question
[29]
The reasoning of the CITT
for answering the second question in the affirmative is set out at paragraphs
56 to 59 and 65 of its reasons. The CITT citing its prior decision in Costco
observed that the words “[u]nless the context otherwise
requires” in Section Note 3 make it clear that composite machines are
not classified according to the principal function test in all cases. Specifically,
if the goods in issue “are covered by another
subheading of heading 84.18”, Section Note 3 would not be applicable
(reasons at para. 58).
[30]
The CITT, upon noting that
the goods in issue are not covered, as such, by subheading Nos. 8418.21,
8418.29, 8418.30, 8418.40, 8418.50 or 8418.61, states that the only remaining
question is whether they are covered by subheading No. 8418.69, which covers
“other [refrigerating or freezing equipment]” (reasons at para. 59). After
having concluded that the word “or” in heading No. 84.18 is not an obstacle to
the application of subheading No. 8418.69 to the goods in issue, the CITT held
that the goods in issue “are covered as such by (this)
subheading” (reasons at para. 65) [my emphasis].
[31]
The conclusion that the
goods in issue are covered “as such” by the word “other” is unexplained.
Nowhere in its reasons does the CITT confront the question as to how goods can
be said to be classified “as such” in a subheading that is residual in nature.
By definition, the words “as such” (“comme telle” in the French text)
contemplate a specific description. Indeed, the reasoning advanced in Costco,
on which the CITT relies extensively, makes it clear that the application of
Section Note 3 is excluded only where the goods are described “as such in a specific tariff heading” (Costco at
para. 39 [first emphasis in original; second emphasis added]; see also paras.
40 and 41 where the same point is twice emphasized).
[32]
The obvious difficulty which
results from the CITT’s decision to preclude the application of Section Note 3
on the basis of a subheading that is residual in nature is that this note would
never find application with respect to goods that come within a subheading by
virtue of not being specifically described or itemized elsewhere. Yet, the
reason for being of Section Note 3 is that it be applied in this precise
situation.
[33]
The respondent argues that
the CITT did not leave Section Note 3 “meaningless”. According to the
respondent, the CITT simply decided, based on the circumstances before it, that
Section Note 3 did not apply (respondent’s memorandum at para. 34).
[34]
I agree that the decision of
the CITT, as all classification decisions, turns on its facts. However, the
proposition for which it stands is that a subheading describes goods “as such”
even though neither the subheading nor the tariff item selected within it
provides any description beyond the word “other”. This result is indefensible.
[35]
In my view, the CBSA
has succeeded in demonstrating that this aspect of the CITT’s decision is
unreasonable.
Third
question
[36]
In support of its challenge
against the CITT’s conclusion as to the third question, the CBSA reiterates the
arguments advanced and dealt with by the CITT, and asks this Court to come to a
different conclusion.
[37]
Specifically, the CBSA
argues that the refrigerator performs the principal function by reason of
relative capacity (i.e. the refrigerator component having the larger
capacity) and of the fact that the goods in issue are marketed primarily as
refrigerators.
[38]
In support of its position,
the CBSA relies on the statement in Tyco Safety Products v. President of the
CBSA, AP-2010-055 at paragraph 61 to the effect that in the context of a
Section Note 3 analysis:
… the relative
importance of each function is dependent, in large part, upon the demands of
the marketplace and the level of technology involved in the performance of that
function.
[39]
In rejecting this argument,
the CITT seemingly accepted the respondent’s submission that, while Section
Note 3 is intended to apply to machines featuring complementary functions, the
goods in issue feature distinct functions which are of equal importance for the
users (reasons at para. 55). The detailed reasoning of the CITT is as follows
(reasons, footnote 59):
In any event, the
Tribunal is not persuaded by the CBSA’s argument that it is the refrigerator
component which performs the principal function of the goods in issue. While
the Tribunal accepts that the refrigerator component has a greater capacity and
while combined refrigerator-freezer units are often simply described, for
marketing purposes, as “refrigerators”, this is not dispositive in the
circumstances. As a matter of fact, the evidence indicates that “[a] fridge is
designed to run at around about 5 degrees centigrade [while] … [a] freezer runs
at an average of minus 18 …”, Transcript of Public Hearing, 7 May 2013, at 48.
Thus, the goods in issue respond to the storage temperature requirements of
different foods. On that basis, the Tribunal finds that the refrigerator and
freezer perform different functions, with neither being subordinate to the
other in terms of its importance. In the Tribunal's view, Mr. Eglington's
acknowledgement that it is difficult to find simple refrigerators on the market
and the fact that, while they need an appliance that perform both functions,
consumers typically do not have enough space in their residence to install both
a refrigerator and a freezer support this conclusion. Transcript of Public
Hearing, 7 May 2013, at 47-48, 62-63.
[40]
There is no doubt that where
the respective functions of a composite machine are equal in importance, the
test set out in Section Note 3 becomes impracticable. The issue therefore is
whether the CITT could conclude that the two functions are equal in importance
on the basis of the criteria proposed by the respondent and accepted by the
CITT.
[41]
I acknowledge that different
criteria, such as those proposed by the CBSA, could have been used. However,
Section Note 3 does not set out any particular method for resolving the issue.
Indeed, it is apparent from the case law cited by the CBSA that the approach
may vary depending on the particularities of the composite machine in issue. In
the present case, the CITT relied on the fact that the goods in issue perform
distinct functions that are of equal importance to the users and resolved the
issue on this basis.
[42]
In my view, the approach
used by the CITT is defensible when regard is had to the facts and the law, and
therefore withstands the test of reasonableness. Because the equivalence in freezing
and refrigerating functions of the goods in issue is a self-standing reason for
not applying Section Note 3, the CITT did not err in declining to give effect
to it.
[43]
Given that the application
of Section Note 3 is the only issue that was raised by the CBSA in support of
its challenge against the decision of the CITT, the aforesaid conclusion is
dispositive of the appeal.
[44]
I would dismiss the appeal
with costs.
“Marc Noël”
“I agree
Johanne
Gauthier J.A.”
“I agree
D.G. Near J.A.”