As you most likely have heard, on January 5, 2018 CBSA issued a memorandum regarding the Canadian International Trade Tribunal decision on Centrifugal Opening Knives. CBSA resolved that centrifugal knives will be classified as prohibited weapons if the following conditions are met:
- knife has a blade that opens by centrifugal force, when the blade isreleased from the handle into the fully ejected and locked position with a simple and brisk outwardly flick of the wrist; and
- it includes knives that require some preliminary or simultaneous minimal manipulation of either a flipper or other non-edged parts of the blade.
While there seems to be wildly different interpretations of these parameters across the various crossings, one thing that is consistent is the ruling – the interpretation leaves enough room to imply that folding knives are no longer permitted to be imported into Canada.
A petition has been launched to repeal this Canadian International Trade Tribunal’s decision to prohibit the import of one-hand opening knives.
