Benjamin P. Bedard

Biography

Benjamin P. Bedard practises international trade, customs and transportation law. He advises corporations and governments on all matters of Canadian and international trade law. He regularly appears before the Canadian International Trade Tribunal in anti-dumping and countervailing duty proceedings and customs appeals. He has extensive experience with trade-related litigation before NAFTA binational panels, the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal. Mr. Bedard regularly advises clients on NAFTA and WTO issues and disputes, including NAFTA investor-state arbitrations.  He is one of a very few lawyers in private practice in Canada to have argued before a WTO dispute settlement panel.

Mr. Bedard advises on various customs-related matters, including import and export controls, economic sanctions, tariff classification, valuation, rules of origin and customs audits. He provides strategic trade and customs advice to companies in various sectors on potential WTO inconsistencies arising from governmental measures.

Mr. Bedard also advises clients in the aviation industry on all aspects of Canadian aviation matters, including licensing, charters, tariffs, NAFTA specialty air services and aircraft leasing, import, export and registration. He also advises clients in the rail sector on all aspects of Canadian rail regulation, including interswitching, level of service obligations, running rights, and rail car import and export. He is Co-Chair of our Transportation Team.

Year of Call

• Ontario Bar 1998

Law School

• LL.B., University of New Brunswick, 1996
• LL.M., University of Cambridge, 2001

EDUCATION

• B.B.A., University of New Brunswick, 1993

Publications

• Anti-Dumping Law: When Can There be Massive Importation and Retroactive Duties? published in Trade Week, Volume 116, No. 16 (August 31, 2005)
• The CBSA Discontinues "Zeroing" by Denis Gascon and Benjamin Bedard, published in Trade Week, Volume 116, No. 12 (June 30, 2005)
• Are China safeguards part of your answer?  Richard A. Wagner and Benjamin P. Bedard, Canadian Apparel Magazine, Volume 28, No. 3, May/June 2004
• "Safeguard Remedies: New Rights Result from China's WTO Accession", Journal of International Trade Law and Regulation, 2002 Int. T.L.R., Issue 5
• "China's accession to WTO creates new trade remedies for Canada", The Lawyer's Weekly, June 28, 2002
• "Tracking Funds: Canada's Recent Initiatives to Combat Money Laundering and the Financing of Terrorism", Journal of International Banking Law, [2002] J.I.B.L. 117
• "New Economic Sanctions: Canada's Response to Terrorism", Osler Update, October 2001
• Border Control of Intellectual Property Rights, ed. Professor Michael Blakeney (Sweet & Maxwell, 2001), chapter on Canada
• "E-Commerce, Cultural Industries and the WTO, Internet and E-Commerce Law in Canada (Butterworths), July 2000
• "Foreign Split-Run Magazines in Canada:  The Question of Implementing the WTO Decision" Journal of International Trade Law and Regulation (Sweet & Maxwell), January 1999
• Canadian correspondent, Journal of  International Trade Law and Regulation (Trade and Customs - Canada)

Speaking Engagements

• Customs Law: 2004 Year in Review, presented at the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants Commodity Tax Symposium (October 4, 2004)

Rankings and Recognitions

• Chambers Global Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers
• Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading International Trade Lawyers
• Woodward/White's The Best Lawyers in Canada

Memberships and Activities

• Law Society of Upper Canada
• American Bar Association
• Canadian Bar Association
• International Bar Association