A Commerce graduate of St. Patrick’s College, University of Ottawa, Peter Clark joined the Department of National Revenue, Customs and Excise in 1965 as a Dominion Customs Appraiser responsible, inter alia, for Anti-dumping and valuation investigations.
In November 1967, Mr. Clark transferred to the Department of Finance, (International Economic Relations Division) where he was a member of the Secretariat of the Interdepartmental Committee on Low-Cost Imports Policy and was a bilateral trade agreements negotiator. He was promoted to Chief of Sector Trade Policy in 1970.
In September 1972, Mr. Clark was seconded to the Department of External Affairs and posted to the Permanent Canadian Mission at Geneva as Counsellor (Economic Affairs). He was heavily involved in the negotiating and drafting of the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) and in preparatory work for the Tokyo Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. He was Canadian Liaison officer with the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), Chairman of the GATT Committee on Finance, Budget and Administration and a Member of the Textiles Surveillance Body. He was a member or head of most of the Canadian delegations to GATT meetings from 1972-75.
In March 1975, Mr. Clark returned to the Department of Finance as Senior International Economic Relations Officer, with responsibilities for Canada/USA economic relations and the co-ordination of departmental and interdepartmental positions for the Tokyo Round. Eighteen months later, he was seconded under the Federal Government Executive Interchange Program to the Canadian Apparel Manufacturers Institute where he served as President of the Institute.
In 1979, Mr. Clark resigned from the Department of Finance and formed Grey, Clark, Shih and Associates, Limited, with Ambassador Rodney Grey, Head of the Canadian Tokyo Round negotiating team in Geneva, and the late Shih, Chung Tse (Constant Shih), who was a senior official at GATT and UNCTAD for 30 years.
Mr. Clark was involved in industry/government consultations on many aspects of the Tokyo and Uruguay Rounds of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. He was a member of consultative committees on customs matters, agricultural trade, dumping, subsidies/countervail and safeguards. He was a private sector member of Canadian Delegations to WTO Ministerial Conferences at Singapore and Seattle. He has also attended the Ministerial meetings at Doha, Cancun, Hong Kong and Geneva.
Mr. Clark has the most extensive trade remedies practice in Canada. He represents clients before Government Boards and Tribunals charged with Regulatory, Trade, Customs and Commercial Policy matters and advises industry and governments in Canada and abroad on the tactics and strategy of international trade negotiation and administration, dispute settlement, international economic relations and public policy development.
Mr. Clark has participated in symposia and seminars on trade, tariff and customs policy sponsored by a wide range of organizations, including the World Trade Organization, Canadian Bar Association, American Bar Association, the Economic Council of Canada, Society for International Development, UNCTAD (Member, Expert Group on Injury), the International Chamber of Commerce, the Trade Policy Research Centre of London, the North-South Institute, the Centre for Trade Policy and Law, the Japan Fair Trade Centre, and numerous law schools and trade associations around the world.
Mr. Clark was Special Trade Advisor to the Parliamentary Committee on implementation of the Canada-USA Free Trade Agreement and appeared before Parliamentary Committees on, inter alia, implementation of NAFTA, preparation for WTO Negotiations and Consultations with “Civil Society”, customs and trade remedy law and intellectual property protection.
Mr. Clark has been a consultant to UNDP Regional Conferences in Manila, Legaspi City, Costa Rica, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Havana, Rio de Janeiro, Cartagena, Bogota, La Paz, Lima, and Sao Paulo advising and has provided technical assistance to developing countries on the techniques and tactics of trade policy development, trade negotiations, dispute settlement, administration and implementation of trade agreements and on customs and trade law. He has also prepared a manual of Canadian trade and customs laws and regulations for the United Nations and studies proposing and defining ways and means of promoting the trade interests of developing countries.
Mr. Clark has provided expert advice to UNCTAD, UNDP and SELA on the implications of international trade remedy laws, rules for environmental regulation and the future relationship of trade and environmental measures including the potential trade aspects of cap and trade systems, as well as analyzing the implementation of Uruguay Round agreements.
In 1996, he completed a comprehensive study of Canadian and U.S. anti-dumping law and practice for the Canadian Department of Finance. He was a contributing author to “Finding Middle Ground” on anti-dumping issues within NAFTA. Other studies include Rules of Origin for the Japan Equipment Manufacturers Association, Technical Barriers to Trade for Industry Science and Technology Canada, the trade elements of a report on Environmental Protection Measures and the Agreement on Internal Trade (with Apogee Research) for the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, a study for UNCTAD on China’s Accession to the WTO and an analysis of financial support to the U.S. dairy industry for the Dairy Farmers of Canada.
Mr. Clark was a member of the Canadian roster of panelists charged with adjudicating anti-dumping and countervailing duty disputes under the Canada-USA Free Trade Agreement and NAFTA. He has also been nominated by Canada as a member of the Roster of Panelists for NAFTA Chapter 20, and is on the WTO Dispute Settlement Panelists Roster (goods and services). He has participated in GATT/WTO disputes as Counsel/expert advisor. He has also been a member of Task Forces on Trade Policy for several Canadian Ministers of International Trade.
Mr. Clark has an extensive practice as a registered lobbyist, with a focus on regulated industries and services, including food standards, safety and security, trade, customs and investment related matters. He is also a frequent media commentator and public speaker on international economic relations and appears regularly before Parliamentary Committees, analyzing and commenting on a wide range of trade and commercial policy issues.
Mr. Clark is active in fund raising to help disadvantaged and sick children. His current focus is The Serge Giroux Foundation, working on a children’s wish program for terminally ill children with the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association. He is an Honourary Life Director of the Canadian Professional Golfers’ Association.
E-mail Peter Clark.