AI-assisted research summary: This Act lets the Governor in Council authorize provincial boards or agencies to regulate agricultural product marketing in interprovincial and export trade, and to approve levies or charges in some cases.
An Act to provide for the marketing of agricultural products in interprovincial and export trade Preamble WHEREAS it is desirable to improve the methods and practices of marketing agricultural products of Canada; AND WHEREAS the legislatures of several of the provinces have enacted legislation respecting the marketing of agricultural products locally within the province; AND WHEREAS it is desirable to cooperate with the provinces and to enact a measure respecting the marketing of agricultural products in interprovincial and export trade; AND WHEREAS it is desirable to facilitate such marketing by authorizing the imposition of levies or charges for the equalization or adjustment among producers of the moneys realized from the marketing of the products. THEREFORE Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows: Short title This Act may be cited as the Agricultural Products Marketing Act. Definition of agricultural product In this Act, agricultural product includes wood. Governor in Council may grant authority to provincial boards The Governor in Council may, by order, grant authority to any board or agency authorized under the law of any province to exercise powers of regulation in relation to the marketing of any agricultural product locally within the province, to regulate the marketing of that agricultural product in interprovincial and export trade and for those purposes to exercise all or any powers like the powers exercisable by the board or agency in relation to the marketing of that agricultural product locally within the province. Levies and charges The Governor in Council may, by order, grant to any board or agency mentioned in subsection (1) authority in relation to the powers that may be granted to the board or agency under this Act with respect to the marketing of any agricultural product in interprovincial and export trade, to fix, impose and collect levies or charges from persons engaged in the production or marketing of the whole or any part of any agricultural product and for that purpose to classify those persons into groups and fix the levies or charges payable by the members of the different groups in different amounts; and to use the levies or charges for the purposes of the board or agency, including the creation of reserves, the payment of expenses and losses resulting from the sale or disposal of any such agricultural product and the equalization or adjustment among producers of any agricultural product of moneys realized from the sale thereof during such period or periods of time as the board or agency may determine. Debt due to board or agency Levies or charges imposed by a board or agency pursuant to the authority granted to it under subsection (2) constitute a debt due to that board or agency and may be sued for and recovered by it in any court of competent jurisdiction. Authority may be revoked The Governor in Council may, by order, revoke any authority granted under this section. Regulations The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing the terms and conditions governing the granting and revocation of authority under section 2 and generally may make regulations for carrying the purposes and provisions of this Act into effect. Offence Every person who contravenes any regulation, or any order, rule or regulation made by any board or agency under this Act with reference to the marketing of an agricultural product in interprovincial and export trade, is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both. Onus In any prosecution for an offence under this Act, the act or omission complained of, in respect of which the prosecution was instituted, shall, unless the accused proves the contrary, be deemed to relate to the marketing of an agricultural product in interprovincial and export trade. Validation and continuation of wood orders For greater certainty, all orders in respect of wood made by the Governor in Council pursuant to section 2 of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act before the coming into force of this Act shall be deemed for all purposes to have been validly made and to have had, and to continue to have, until revoked, the same force and effect as if they had been made pursuant to an Act of Parliament that authorized the making thereof, and everything done before the coming into force of this Act pursuant to the authority granted by any such order shall be deemed for all purposes to have been validly done.