p42 s1 bill 54 b054 e.pdf

Ontario — Bills

1ST SESSION, 42ND LEGISLATURE, ONTARIO 67 ELIZABETH II, 2018 Bill 54

An Act to regulate the labelling and certification of organic products Mr. J. McDonell Private Member’s Bill 1st Reading November 12, 2018 2nd Reading 3rd Reading Royal Assent

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

An Act to regulate the labelling and certification of organic products CONTENTS

INTERPRETATION 1.

Interpretation CERTIFICATION OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS 2. Marketing and labelling of organic products 3. Regulations respecting organic certification 4. Agreement with certification body INSPECTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT 5. Appointment of inspectors 6. No obstruction 7. Powers of inspectors 8. Warrant required to enter dwelling 9. Warrant to search and seize 10. Expiry of warrant 11. Storage and removal of things seized SHARING INFORMATION 12. Sharing information ORGANIC PRODUCTS REGISTER 13. Organic Products Register OFFENCES 14. Offence 15. Presumption about product 16. Evidence of identification 17.

Certificate of analyst admissible ADMINISTRATIVE PENALTIES 18. Administrative penalties 19. Failure to pay administrative penalty when required REGULATIONS 20. Fees 21. Regulations COMMENCEMENT AND

SHORT TITLE 22. Commencement 23.

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

(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 t o 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 produc t or a container, or that accompanies or is to accompany a product or container; (“étiquette”)

2 “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 a dministration 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”) No 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 us ing 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 M inister 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.

3 INSPECTIONS AND ENFORCEMENT Appointment of inspectors 5

(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. No 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 7

(1) An inspector may, subject to

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 i t; (

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 inf ormation relevant to the administration of this Act that the inspector reasonably requests. Warrant required to enter dwelling 8

(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 warr ant 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 reasona ble 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.

4 Warrant to search and seize 9

(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 tha t 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, th e 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 10

(1) A warrant issued under thi s 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 11

(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 d

Document details

Collection	Ontario — Bills
Citation	p42 s1 bill 54 b054 e.pdf
Type	bill
Volume / chapter	p42 s1 bill 54 b054 e.pdf
Language	en
Format	pdf
Source	PROVINCIAL
Identifier	f1c111000b0dad7d8eb8ee827922b7a01bfe8000

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