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GAO-09-764R 1 (2009-06-18)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaannv0001 and id is 1 raw text is: I GA 0 T I M Accountability * Integrity * Reliability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 June 18, 2009 The Honorable Max Baucus Chairman The Honorable Charles E. Grassley Ranking Member Committee on Finance United States Senate The Honorable Charles B. Rangel Chairman The Honorable Dave Camp Ranking Member Committee on Ways and Means House of Representatives Subject: U.S. and Canadian Governments Have Established Mechanisms to Monitor Compliance with the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement but Face Operational Challenges The United States and Canada have been involved in a long-standing dispute regarding the softwood lumber trade. Canada is the primary exporter of softwood lumber to the United States. In 2008, Canada exported approximately $3.2 billion worth of softwood lumber products to the United States, about 17 times the amount supplied by the next biggest exporter to the United States. After several years of litigation related to U.S. allegations of unfair Canadian subsidies, the United States and Canada signed the 2006 Softwood Lumber Agreement (agreement).' The agreement ended ongoing litigation and requires, among other things, Canadian federal and provincial governments to establish export charges and quotas2 for Canadian lumber exports and for the two countries to exchange information to support monitoring compliance with the agreement . In 2008, the United States passed the Softwood Lumber Act that requires, among other things, that the U.S. government reconcile and verify softwood lumber trade data.4 The act also 'Softwood Lumber Agreement Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America, September 12, 2006 (SLA 2006). 2The agreement uses the term volume restraint. However, for the purposes of this report, the term quota will be used as an equivalent for the term volume restraint. 3SLA 2006, art. VI and VII. 4Softwood Lumber Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-246, § 3301, 122 Stat. 1651, 1844-1853 (codified at 19 U.S.C. §§ 1683-1683g). The act named Treasury to implement these requirements, which Treasury delegated to the Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection (CBP). GAO-09-764R Softwood Lumber Compliance Monitoring

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