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Agricultural Growth Act (S.C. 2015, c. 2)

Assented to 2015-02-25

  •  (1) Paragraph 47(a) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • (a) prohibiting or regulating the carrying out of any activity in respect of pests and of other things that are or could be infested with pests or that constitute or could constitute biological obstacles to the control of pests, including their importation and admission into Canada, their exportation from Canada and their movement within Canada;

    • (a.1) for the purposes of paragraph 7(b),

      • (i) respecting the circumstances in which a thing must be presented to an inspector, and

      • (ii) imposing conditions on an inspector’s authority to require that a thing be presented;

  • (2) Section 47 of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (b):

    • (b.1) respecting authorizations provided for in section 47.2, including the conditions to which they may be subject and their amendment, suspension or revocation;

  • (3) Paragraph 47(r) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • (r) requiring documents to be furnished by inspectors;

    • (r.1) requiring persons to prepare, keep or maintain documents and to provide the Minister or an inspector with, or with access to, those documents, and respecting

      • (i) the information in those documents,

      • (ii) the manner in which they are to be prepared, kept or maintained,

      • (iii) the place where they are to be kept or maintained, and

      • (iv) the manner in which they are to be provided or access to them is to be provided;

    • (r.2) requiring persons to take or keep samples of any thing and to provide the Minister or an inspector with, or with access to, those samples, and respecting the manner in which those samples are to be taken or kept and the manner in which they are to be provided or access to them is to be provided;

  • (4) Section 47 of the Act is amended by adding “and” at the end of paragraph (s) and by adding the following after that paragraph:

    • (t) exempting, with or without conditions, any thing, or a person or activity in respect of a thing, from the application of this Act or the regulations or a provision of this Act or the regulations.

  • (5) Section 47 of the Act is renumbered as subsection 47(1) and is amended by adding the following:

    • Marginal note:Paragraph (1)(a) — importation

      (2) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(a) may, among other things, establish preclearance or in-transit requirements for any imported thing or anything imported with it.

    • Marginal note:Paragraph (1)(a) — prohibiting or restricting activities

      (3) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(a) may, among other things, authorize the Minister or an inspector to prohibit or restrict the carrying out of any activity in respect of a thing if the Minister or inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that the thing is a pest, is infested with a pest or constitutes a biological obstacle to the control of a pest, and prescribe conditions for the exercise of the authority.

    • Marginal note:Paragraph (1)(i)

      (4) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(i) may, among other things, authorize the Minister or an inspector to prohibit or restrict the use of a place or a thing if the Minister or inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that the place is infested with a pest or that the thing is a pest, is infested with a pest or constitutes a biological obstacle to the control of a pest, and prescribe conditions for the exercise of the authority.

    • Marginal note:Paragraph (1)(r.1)

      (5) Regulations made under paragraph (1)(r.1) may, among other things, require persons who conduct any activity regulated under this Act and who become aware that a thing that is a pest, that is or could be infested with a pest or that constitutes or could constitute a biological obstacle to the control of a pest presents a risk of harm to human, animal or plant health or the environment or does not meet the requirements of the regulations to provide written notice to that effect to the Minister or an inspector.

 The Act is amended by adding the following after section 47:

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Marginal note:Incorporation by reference
  • 47.1 (1) A regulation made under subsection 47(1) may incorporate by reference any document, regardless of its source, either as it exists on a particular date or as it is amended from time to time.

  • Marginal note:Accessibility

    (2) The Minister must ensure that any document that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under subsection 47(1), including any amendments to the document, is accessible.

  • Marginal note:Defence

    (3) A person is not liable to be found guilty of an offence or subjected to an administrative sanction for any contravention in respect of which a document that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under subsection 47(1) is relevant unless, at the time of the alleged contravention, the document was accessible as required by subsection (2) or it was otherwise accessible to the person.

  • Marginal note:No registration or publication

    (4) For greater certainty, a document that is incorporated by reference in a regulation made under subsection 47(1) is not required to be transmitted for registration or published in the Canada Gazette by reason only that it is incorporated by reference.

AUTHORIZATIONS

Marginal note:Authorizations
  • 47.2 (1) The President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency may, subject to the regulations, authorize any person to perform any activity that he or she specifies, subject to any conditions that he or she considers appropriate, if the activity is related to ensuring that a thing is not a pest, is not or could not be infested with a pest or does not or could not constitute a biological obstacle to the control of a pest.

  • Marginal note:Not transferable

    (2) The authorization is not transferable.

  • Marginal note:Amendment, suspension and revocation

    (3) The President may, subject to the regulations, amend, suspend or revoke the authorization.

GENERAL

Marginal note:Non-application of Statutory Instruments Act

47.3 The Statutory Instruments Act does not apply in respect of a notice referred to in section 49.

 The portion of subsection 48(1) of the French version of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Infraction
  • 48. (1) Quiconque contrevient aux dispositions de la présente loi — à l’exception de l’article 9 — ou des règlements ou refuse ou néglige d’accomplir une obligation imposée sous le régime de la présente loi commet une infraction et encourt, sur déclaration de cul­pabilité :

 Section 51 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Limitation period or prescription

51. Summary conviction proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted no later than two years after the day on which the subject matter of the proceedings arises.

 Sections 54 and 55 of the Act are replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Parties to offence

54. If a person other than an individual commits an offence under this Act, any of the person’s directors, officers or agents or mandataries who directs, authorizes, assents to or acquiesces or participates in the commission of the offence is a party to the offence and is liable on conviction to the punishment provided for by this Act, even if the person is not prosecuted for the offence.

Marginal note:Proof of offence

55. In a prosecution for an offence under this Act, it is sufficient proof of the offence to establish that it was committed by an employee or an agent or mandatary of the accused, even if the employee or the agent or mandatary is not identified or prosecuted for the offence, unless the accused establishes that the offence was committed without the knowledge or consent of the accused and that the accused exercised all due diligence to prevent its commission.

1995, c. 40AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD ADMINISTRATIVE MONETARY PENALTIES ACT

Marginal note:2002, c. 28, s. 82

 The definition “Minister” in section 2 of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act is replaced by the following:

“Minister”

« ministre »

“Minister” means the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, except that

  • (a) it means the Minister of Health in relation to a violation involving a contravention of

    • (i) the Pest Control Products Act, or

    • (ii) a provision relating to food safety of an agri-food Act or of a regulation made under such an Act, and

  • (b) it means the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness in relation to a notice of violation issued in respect of the contravention of program legislation referred to in subsection 11(5) of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act;

  •  (1) Subsection 4(1) of the Act is amended by adding the following after paragraph (b):

    • (b.1) establishing, in respect of each violation, a short-form description to be used in notices of violation;

  • (2) Paragraph 4(2)(b) of the Act is replaced by the following:

    • (b) in any other case, $5,000 for a minor violation, $15,000 for a serious violation and $25,000 for a very serious violation.

 Section 6 of the Act is replaced by the following:

Marginal note:Power of Minister — notices of violation

6. The Minister may designate persons, or classes of persons, who are authorized to issue notices of violation.

 

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