Government quietly signed customs agreement with China

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government quietly signed a customs-sharing agreement with China without announcing it to the public, Global News has learned.

And the move has experts worried about the consequences to Canada’s security.

At the end of Harper’s trip to China in November, the government sent out a news release proudly detailing the progress made and agreements signed, including initiatives to strengthen commercial ties and increase exports.

But Harper made no mention of the agreement to share customs information with China, whereas similar agreements involving Israel and the European Union were widely disseminated.

The deal has many experts scratching their heads.

“China has for years been doing a tremendous job of stealing some of our technology,” said Garry Clement, a former RCMP superintendent with 30 years in the force.

“We’ve got a tremendous amount of counterfeit goods that we all know comes out of China. So I guess where my concern would come in is: what is the amount of intelligence that we’re actually going to share with them? And what (are) the controls we’re going to put on it, and how does that impact our relationship?”

There are many examples of Chinese attempts to steal hi-tech goods, blueprints and computer data...

Canada’s border services agency says the customs deal – signed in China on Nov. 8 by Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird – is good for Canada.

Negotiations began in September 2012, spokeswoman Wendy Atkin said in an email.

“Sharing information with China, Canada’s second-largest single nation trading partner, will greatly improve Canada’s ability to ensure supply chain security and further facilitate trade,” Atkin said.

“This agreement will enable information-sharing so that cross-border customs offences can be more effectively prevented, investigated and prosecuted.”

A spokesman for Public Safety Minister Jean-Christophe De Le Rue said the United States, Japan and the EU have signed similar agreements with China.

He said the CBSA consulted with the RCMP and CSIS prior to signing the agreement.

For now, the only information available on the agreement is a small notice buried deep in a government website.

“I’m deeply concerned that the government has basically concealed this deal,” NDP MP Paul Dewar, the foreign affairs critic, said.

How do we know, in terms of the information that’s being shared with the Chinese, that it’s not going to, you know, work against us?”

Experts say it’s important Canadians know the details...

This has been excerpted from 4 December 2014 article by the Global News.