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Bill 54, Organic Products Act, 2018

McDonell, Jim

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Original

Bill 54 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill enacts the Organic Products Act, 2018 . The Act

prohibits the marketing and labelling of products as “organic” unless they have

been certified as organic in accordance with the Act. It also requires that the

Minister assigned the administration of the Act create a register of all

products that are certified as organic, and that the Minister periodically

update the register.

Bill 54 2018

Act to regulate the labelling and certification of organic products

CONTENTS

Interpretation

Interpretation

Certification of Organic Products

Marketing

and labelling of organic products

Regulations

respecting organic certification

Agreement

with certification body

Inspections and Enforcement

Appointment

of inspectors

obstruction

Powers

of inspectors

Warrant

required to enter dwelling

Warrant

to search and seize

Expiry

of warrant

Storage

and removal of things seized

Sharing Information

Sharing

information

Organic Products Register

Organic

Products Register

Offences

Offence

Presumption

about product

Evidence

of identification

Certificate

of analyst admissible

Administrative Penalties

Administrative

penalties

Failure

to pay administrative penalty when required

Regulations

Fees

Regulations

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

Short

title

Her

Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the

Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Interpretation

Interpretation

(1) In this Act,

“advertisement”

means anything that directly or indirectly promotes the sale or other

distribution of a product; (“promotion”)

“certification

body” means a person or body designated as a certification body under

section 3;

(“organisme de certification”)

“container”

means a receptacle, package, wrapper or confining band used or to be used in

connection with a product; (“contenant”)

“inspector”

means a person appointed as an inspector under

section 5; (“inspecteur”)

“label”

means a label, legend, word, mark, symbol, design, imprint, stamp, brand,

ticket or tag or any combination of these that is, or is to be, applied or

attached to a product or a container, or that accompanies or is to accompany a

product or container; (“étiquette”)

“marketing”

means the preparation and advertisement of products, and includes the

conveyance, purchase and sale of products, and any other act necessary to make

products available for consumption or use; (“commercialisation”)

“Minister”

means the Minister to whom the administration of this Act is assigned under the

Executive Council Act ; (“ministre”)

“multi-ingredient

product” means a type of product composed of two or more products; (“produit

multi-ingrédients”)

“organic

product” means a product that has been certified as organic in accordance with

this Act; (“produit biologique”)

“person”

includes a partnership or an unincorporated association; (“personne”)

“place”

includes a vehicle or other conveyance; (“lieu”)

“preparation”

includes processing, slaughtering, storing, inspecting, grading, packing,

assembling, marking and labelling; (“conditionnement”)

“prescribed”

means prescribed by the regulations; (“prescrit”)

“product”

means a tangible good for sale, including,

(

a) an

animal, a plant, or a thing derived from an animal or plant, including any

food, drink, cosmetic or textile derived from an animal or plant, and

(

b) a

product prescribed by regulation; (“produit”)

“register”

means the Organic Products Register described in

section 13; (“registre”)

“regulations”

means the regulations made under this Act; (“règlements”)

“sell”

includes,

(

a) agreeing

to sell, or offering, keeping, exposing, transmitting, conveying or delivering

for sale,

(

b) selling

by consignment,

(

c) exchanging

or agreeing to exchange, and

(

d) disposing

of or consenting to dispose of, in any manner, for a consideration. (“vendre”)

effect on Farm Products Marketing Act, Milk Act

(2) Nothing

in this Act affects the operation of the Farm Products

Marketing Act or the Milk Act .

Certification of Organic Products

Marketing

and labelling of organic products

2 No person shall market or label a

product using the term “organic”, “biologique” or any other prescribed term

unless the product has been certified as organic in accordance with this Act.

Regulations

respecting organic certification

3 The Minister may make regulations

respecting the certification of products as organic products, including, but

not limited to, regulations,

(

a) designating

as a certification body any person or body the Minister considers to be

knowledgeable about the principles and practices of organic certification;

(

b) respecting

the making of applications to a certification body by persons who wish to have

products certified as organic products;

(

c) respecting

procedures, criteria and standards for organic certification, including the

certification of multi-ingredient products;

(

d) prescribing

the period for which an organic certification remains in effect;

(

e) governing

the records to be kept in respect of certified organic products;

(

f) governing

the renewal, suspension and cancellation of an organic certification;

(

g) respecting

appeals from decisions by a certification body not to certify products as

organic products, or to suspend, cancel or not renew an organic certification.

Agreement

with certification body

4 The Minister may enter into an agreement

with a certification body respecting the certification of products as organic

products under this Act.

Inspections and Enforcement

Appointment

of inspectors

(1) The Minister may appoint

inspectors for the purposes of this Act.

Certificate

of appointment

(2) The

Minister or a person authorized in writing by the Minister shall issue to the

inspector a certificate of appointment bearing the Minister’s signature or a

facsimile of it.

Proof

of appointment

(3) Every

inspector who exercises powers under this Act shall, on request, produce his or

her certificate.

obstruction

6 No person shall obstruct an inspector

who is exercising powers under this Act or provide an inspector with false or

misleading information.

Powers

of inspectors

(1) An inspector may, subject

section 8, enter and inspect any place, or stop any vehicle, in which the

inspector believes on reasonable grounds there is any product that is labelled,

is being marketed or is intended to be marketed as an organic product.

Same

(2) The

inspector may,

(

a) open

any container that the inspector believes on reasonable grounds contains a

product;

(

b) inspect

any product or other thing and take samples of it free of charge;

(

c) require

any person to produce for inspection or copying, in whole or in part, any

record or other document that the inspector believes on reasonable grounds

contains any information relevant to the administration of this Act;

(

d) use

or cause to be used any computer or data processing system to examine any data

contained in or available to it;

(

e) obtain

data in the form of a printout or other intelligible output and take the

printout or other output for examination or copying; and

(

f) use

or cause to be used any copying equipment to make copies of any record or other

document.

Driver

of vehicle must stop

(3) When

an inspector signals or requests a person driving a vehicle to stop, the person

shall immediately bring the vehicle to a stop and shall not proceed until the

inspector permits the person to do so.

Records

(4) An

inspector may remove any records or documents that he or she is entitled to

examine or copy, but shall give a receipt to the person from whom they were

taken and promptly return them when the examination is completed.

Assistance

to inspectors

(5) The

owner or the person in charge of a place or vehicle inspected and any person

found in the place or vehicle must,

(

a) give

the inspector all reasonable assistance to enable the inspector to carry out

his or her duties under this Act; and

(

b) provide

the inspector with any information relevant to the administration of this Act

that the inspector reasonably requests.

Warrant

required to enter dwelling

(1) An inspector shall not,

without the consent of the occupier, exercise a power to enter a place that is

being used as a dwelling, except under the authority of a search warrant issued

under

section 158 of the Provincial Offences Act or

a warrant issued under subsection (2).

Authority

to issue warrant

(2) A

justice may issue a warrant authorizing an inspector named in the warrant to

enter the dwelling, subject to any conditions that may be specified in the

warrant, if the justice is satisfied on information under oath that there are

reasonable grounds to believe that,

(

a) the

conditions for entry described in subsection 7 (1) exist in relation to a

dwelling;

(

b) entry

to the dwelling is necessary for a purpose relating to the administration of

this Act; and

(

c) entry

to the dwelling has been refused or that there are reasonable grounds for

believing that entry will be refused.

Warrant

to search and seize

(1) A justice may issue a

warrant authorizing an inspector and any other person named in the warrant to

enter and search the place for a product or other thing, and to seize and

detain it, if the justice is satisfied on information under oath that there are

reasonable grounds to believe that,

(

a) an

offence under this Act has been committed; and

(

b) there

is to be found, in any place, a product or other thing that will afford

evidence in respect of the commission of an offence.

Additional

seizure powers

(2) An

inspector who executes a warrant issued under subsection (1) may exercise the

powers described in

section 7 and may seize, in addition to anything mentioned

in the warrant, any product or other thing,

(

a) by

means of which, or in relation to which, the inspector believes on reasonable

grounds that this Act has been contravened; or

(

b) that

the inspector believes on reasonable grounds will afford evidence in respect of

a contravention of this Act.

Where

warrant not necessary

(3) An

inspector may exercise any of the powers referred to in this

section without a

warrant if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but, by reason of

exigent circumstances, it would not be practical to obtain a warrant.

Expiry

of warrant

(1) A

warrant issued under this Act shall name a date on which it expires, which date

shall not be later than 30 days after its issue.

Extension

of time

(2) A

justice may extend the date on which the warrant expires for an additional

period of no more than 30 days on application without notice by the inspector

named in the warrant.

Police

assistance

(3) The

warrant authorizes the inspector named in the warrant to call on police

officers as necessary to execute the warrant.

Duty

to assist

(4) It

is the duty of every member of a police force called to render assistance under

subsection (3) to render the assistance.

Use

of force

(5) A

justice who issues a warrant under this Act may authorize the inspector named

in the warrant to use as much force as is reasonably necessary to execute the

warrant or to exercise any authority specified in the warrant.

Time

of execution

(6) Unless

otherwise ordered, the warrant shall be executed only during normal business

hours for the place named in the warrant.

Storage

and removal of things seized

(1) A thing

seized and detained under this Act may be stored by an inspector, or by any

person designated by an inspector, in the place where it was seized or may, at

the inspector’s discretion, be removed to any other place for storage.

Sale

of perishable products

(2) An

inspector who seizes a perishable product under this Act may dispose of or

destroy it, and any proceeds realized from its disposition, with interest to be

paid at the prescribed rate, shall be held pending the outcome of the

proceedings.

Disposal

of products after proceedings

(3) When

proceedings in respect of a seized product or thing have been finally resolved,

(

a) on

conviction, the court may order the product or other thing, or the proceeds of

sale and accumulated interest referred to in subsection (2), forfeited to the

Crown; or

(

b) if

the court does not order forfeiture, the product or other thing, or the

proceeds of sale and accumulated interest referred to in subsection (2), shall

be turned over or paid to the person who is lawfully entitled to possess it or

them.

Disposal

of forfeited products

(4) A

product or other thing that has been ordered to be forfeited under clause (3)

(

a) must be disposed of as directed by the Minister.

Sharing Information

Sharing

information

(1) For the

purpose of administering and enforcing this Act, and to generate information,

in non-identifying form, for statistical purposes, the Minister or a person

authorized by the Minister may,

(

a) require

a certification body to provide information collected under this Act, including

personal information as defined in the Freedom of

Information and Protection of Privacy Act ; and

(

b) disclose

this information to a certification body, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

or other prescribed persons or government agencies.

Information

must be provided

(2) The

certification body shall provide the information in the form and at the time

set by the Minister or the person authorized by the Minister.

Organic Products Register

Organic

Products Register

(1) The

Minister or, if the Minister has entered into an agreement with a certification

body, the certification body shall establish an Organic Products Register

listing,

(

a) all

products that have been certified as organic; and

(

b) any

other information required by the regulations.

Publication

of register

(2) The

Minister shall maintain the register and publish it on a Government of Ontario

website.

Offences

Offence

(1) A person

who contravenes this Act is guilty of an offence.

Limitation

period

(2) A

prosecution under this Act may not be commenced later than two years after the

day the alleged offence was committed.

Penalty,

individual

(3) An

individual convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to,

(

a) a

fine of not more than $20,000 for a first offence and not more than $30,000 for

a subsequent offence;

(

b) imprisonment

for a term of not more than six months; or

(

c) both

(

a) and (b).

Penalty,

corporation

(4) A

corporation convicted of an offence under this Act is liable to a fine of not more

than $50,000 for a first offence and not more than $75,000 for a subsequent

offence.

Directors

and officers of corporations

(5) If

a corporation is guilty of an offence, a director or officer of the corporation

who authorized, permitted or acquiesced in the offence is also guilty of the

offence and is liable to the penalty for the offence provided for in subsection

(3).

Presumption

about product

15 In a prosecution for an

offence under this Act, a person found in possession of a product in a quantity

greater than is ordinarily necessary for a household’s consumption is deemed,

in the absence of evidence to the contrary, to have been in possession of the

product for the purpose of marketing it.

Evidence

of identification

16 In a prosecution for an

offence under this Act, proof that a product or its container bore a name and

address purporting to be that of the person who prepared it is proof, in the

absence of evidence to the contrary, that the product was prepared by the

person or at the establishment whose name and address appeared on the product

or container.

Certificate

of analyst admissible

(1) A

certificate appearing to be signed by an analyst involved in the investigation,

or a copy or extract of the certificate certified by the analyst as a true copy

or extract, stating that the analyst has analysed a sample of a product and

giving the results is admissible in evidence in any proceeding as proof of the

facts stated unless the contrary is shown.

proof of appointment or signature required

(2) Proof

of the analyst’s appointment or signature is not required.

Administrative Penalties

Administrative

penalties

(1) An

administrative penalty may be imposed under this

section for one or more of the

following purposes:

1. To

ensure compliance with this Act and the regulations.

2. To

prevent a person from deriving, directly or indirectly, any economic benefit as

a result of contravening a provision of this Act or of the regulations.

Appointment

of Registrar

(2) The

Minister shall appoint a Registrar to administer administrative penalties.

Order

by Registrar

(3) The

Registrar may, subject to the regulations, issue an order requiring a person to

pay an administrative penalty if the Registrar is of the opinion that the

person has contravened this Act.

Limitation

(4) An

order under subsection (3) shall be served not later than one year after the

day on which evidence of the contravention first came to an inspector’s

attention.

Orders

not to be issued to directors, officers, employees or agents

(5) If

a person who is required to comply with a provision of this Act or of the regulations

is a corporation, an order under subsection (3) shall be issued to the

corporation and not to a director, officer, employee or agent of the

corporation.

Amount

of penalty

(6) The

amount of the administrative penalty for each day or part of a day on which a

contravention occurred or continues to occur shall be determined by the

Registrar in accordance with the regulations.

Contents

(7) An

order under subsection (3) shall be served on the person who is required to pay

the administrative penalty and shall,

(

a) contain

a description of the contravention to which the order relates, including, if

appropriate, the date of the contravention;

(

b) specify

the amount of the penalty; and

(

c) give

particulars respecting the time for paying the penalty and the manner of

payment.

Absolute

liability

(8) A

requirement that a person pay an administrative penalty applies even if,

(

a) the

person took all reasonable steps to prevent the contravention; or

(

b) at

the time of the contravention, the person had an honest and reasonable belief

in a mistaken set of facts that, if true, would have rendered the contravention

innocent.

Same

(9) For

greater certainty, nothing in subsection (8) affects the prosecution of an

offence.

Payment

prevents conviction

(10) A

person who pays an administrative penalty in respect of a contravention and has

remedied the contravention shall not be convicted of an offence under this Act

in respect of the same contravention.

Failure

to pay administrative penalty when required

(1) If a

person who is required to pay an administrative penalty fails to comply with

the requirement, the Registrar may file the order that requires payment with a

local registrar of the Superior Court of Justice and the order may be enforced

as if it were an order of the court.

Same

(2) Section

129 of the Courts of Justice Act applies in respect

of an order filed under subsection (1) and, for that purpose, the date on which

the order is filed is deemed to be the date of the order that is referred to in

that section.

Regulations

Fees

(1) The

Minister may make regulations governing fees under this Act, including,

(

a) requiring

the payment of fees by a person referred to in subsection (2) in relation to

any matter under this Act, including,

(

i) the

inspection, sampling, testing or analysis of a place, product or other thing,

or the storage, removal, disposal or return of a product or other thing,

required or authorized under this Act, and

(ii) the

forfeiture, disposal, seizure or detention of a product or other thing under

this Act;

(

b) prescribing

the amount of fees or the manner of determining fees;

(

c) prescribing

the manner in which and the period within which fees must be paid.

Same

(2) The

regulations may provide that fees are recoverable jointly and severally from,

(

a) the

owner or occupier of the place referred to in clause (1) (

a) or the owner of

the product or other thing referred to in clause (1) (a); and

(

b) the

person having the possession, care or control of the place, product or other

thing referred to in clause (1) (

a) immediately before its inspection,

detention, forfeiture, sampling, testing, analysis, storage, removal, return or

disposal or, in the case of a product or other thing seized under this Act,

immediately before its seizure.

Regulations

21 The Minister may make

regulations,

(

a) prescribing

a product for the purpose of the definition of “product” in subsection 1 (1);

(

b) prescribing

a term or terms for the purpose of

section 2;

(

c) regulating

or prohibiting the marketing of any organic product, and establishing terms and

conditions governing that marketing;

(

d) prescribing

labels for organic products, including multi-ingredient products that contain

organic products;

(

e) providing

for the inspection of establishments and the inspection, analysis, testing,

grading and sampling of organic products;

(

f) governing

the design, construction, hygiene, sanitation and maintenance of establishments

where organic products are grown or produced;

(

g) governing

the procedures to be followed and the standards to be maintained in

establishments for the preparation of organic products;

(

h) governing

analyses related to pesticides and any other substance that is found on, in or

near organic products;

(

i) establishing

grades and standards for organic products and establishing standards for

containers;

(

j) prescribing

the rate of interest to be paid for the purpose of subsection 11 (2);

(

k) providing

for measures to be taken respecting organic products or other things that do

not meet, or are suspected on reasonable grounds of not meeting, the

requirements under this Act;

(

l) prescribing

any fees or charges required for carrying out the purpose and provisions of

this Act, and the interest that shall accrue on unpaid fees or charges;

(

m) prescribing

persons and government agencies for the purpose of clause 12 (1) (b);

(

n) regulating

or prohibiting the preparation of any organic product;

(

o) providing

for systems to ascertain the places of origin or destination of organic

products;

(

p) providing

for the collection of market information and statistics, the publication of

studies dealing with the marketing of organic products, the collection and

publication of statistics on enforcement and the conduct of surveys on any

matter related to this Act;

(

q) exempting

or excluding a person or product from the application of this Act or any part

of it;

(

r) establishing

special processes for inspection and prescribing categories of persons to whom

those processes apply;

(

s) governing

the register;

(

t) governing

administrative penalties that may be imposed under

section 18;

(

u) respecting

any matter necessary or advisable to carry out the purpose of this Act.

Commencement and

Short Title

Commencement

22 This Act comes into force six months after

the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

23 The

short title of this Act is the Organic Products Act, 2018 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

November 29, 2018

Second Reading

Ordered referred to Committee of the Whole House

November 29, 2018

Second Reading

Vote

Carried

November 29, 2018

Second Reading

Debated

November 12, 2018

First Reading

Vote

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

November 12, 2018

Committee

Second Reading

November 29, 2018

Mr. Jim McDonell, Ms. Doly Begum, Hon. Sylvia Jones, Mr. John Vanthof, Mrs. Gila Martow

November 29, 2018

Declared carried. Referred to the Committee of the Whole House.

Committee

Committee of the Whole House

Third Reading

Royal Assent

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