Canada Sugar Refining Company v R

The Law Reports Cited in (49) Precedent Map Related
JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
CourtPrivy Council
Judgment Date1898
Year1898
Date1898
[PRIVY COUNCIL.] CANADA SUGAR REFINING COMPANY LIMITED DEFENDANTS AND THE QUEEN PLAINTIFF. ON APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA. 1898 July 8, 12, 27. LORD WATSON, LORD HOBHOUSE, and LORD DAVEY.

Law of Canada - Customs Tariff Act, 1894, s. 4 - R. S. C. (1886), c. 32, s. 150 - Construction - Date of Importation of Goods.

Held, that by the true construction of the Customs Tariff Act, 1894, s. 4, as amended by the Tariff Act, 1895, which in effect directs that duty be paid upon raw sugar “when such goods are imported into Canada or taken out of warehouse for consumption therein,” the date at which duty both attaches thereto and becomes payable is when the goods are landed and delivered to the importer or to his order, or, when they are taken out of warehouse, if instead of being delivered they have been placed in bond.

Sect. 150 of the Customs Act, 1886, which directs that the precise time of the importation of goods shall be deemed to be the time when “they came within the limits of the port at which they ought to be reported,” refers on its true construction to the port at which the goods are to be landed — that is, where the effective report is to be made. Such construction is required in order to place a consistent, rational, and probable meaning on the contest and other clauses of the Act.

APPEAL from a decree of the Supreme Court (May 1, 1897) reversing a decree of the Exchequer Court of Canada (Sept. 14, 1896), and adjudging that Her Majesty was entitled to recover from the appellants the sum of $39,937 with costs, claimed as duty payable by the appellants on raw sugar imported by them from Hamburg into Canada in the SS. Cynthiana.

The questions under the circumstances related in their Lordships' judgment were:—

(a) Was the said sugar imported into Canada within the meaning of the Customs Tariff Act before May 3, 1895, on which day the statute 58 & 59 Vict. c. 23, imposing the said duty, came into force?

(b) Does the fact that an entry of the said sugar was, under the circumstances detailed, made at the Customs on May 2, 1895, as if the said sugar were free from duty, in the circumstances of this case prevent the Crown from subsequently claiming the duty?

Bray, Q.C., and Gormully, Q.C., for the appellants, contended that the judgment of the Supreme Court was wrong. They referred to Customs Tariff Act, 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. c. 33), s. 4; the Customs Act (49 Vict. c. 32), s. 150, as amended by 52 Vict. c. 14, s. 12; to ss. 25, 31, and 34. They contended that on the true construction of those enactments the importation in question took place when the Cynthiana came within the limits of the Port of North Sydney, when the master was bound to make his report pursuant to s. 25 of the Customs Act. Otherwise it took place at the latest on May 2, when the appellants made entry of their sugar at Montreal, and their entry, whether regular or irregular, was in fact accepted by the Customs House authorities as of goods which were duty free. The language of 58 & 59 Vict. c. 23, s. 4, is not wide enough to reach retroactively transactions which were fully completed and concluded before the passage of the said statute, which was not until July 22.

Blake, Q.C., Hon. C. Fitzpatrick, S.-G., Newcombe, Q.C., and Loehnis, for the respondent, contended that the sugar in question was not imported into Canada within the meaning of the Customs Act till the Cynthiana had arrived within the limits of her port of destination, which was Montreal. The date of the ship's arrival within those limits was May 4. Until then no duties could be either levied or paid. The duty attached and was payable on that date. As regards the general practice at Montreal as to entering goods before arrival, that did not alter the date of actual arrival, which alone is the material date for the purposes of the Customs Acts. The free entry on May 2 was an erroneous entry, and was properly cancelled as not binding on the respondent in respect of this claim. Reference was made by way of illustration to The Patria...

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