British Columbia Vegetable Order: SOR/2020-259

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 154, Number 26

Registration

SOR/2020-259 December 4, 2020

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS MARKETING ACT

P.C. 2020-976 December 4, 2020

Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, pursuant to section 2 footnote a of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act footnote b, makes the annexed British Columbia Vegetable Order.

British Columbia Vegetable Order

Definitions

1 The following definitions apply in this Order.

Act
means the Natural Products Marketing (BC) Act, RSBC 1996, c. 330. (Loi)
Commodity Board
means the British Columbia Vegetable Marketing Commission or its successor entity. (Office)
Supervisory Board
means the British Columbia Farm Industry Review Board or its successor entity. (Organisme de surveillance)
vegetable
means any vegetable produced in British Columbia and includes strawberries intended expressly for manufacturing purposes and potatoes. (légume)

Interprovincial and Export Trade

2 The Commodity Board and the Supervisory Board are authorized to regulate the marketing of vegetables in interprovincial and export trade and, for that purpose, with respect to persons and property situated within British Columbia, exercise all or any powers like the powers exercisable by them in relation to the marketing of vegetables locally within that province under the Act.

Levies and Charges

3 The Commodity Board and the Supervisory Board, in relation to the powers granted to them by section 2, are authorized to

Repeal

4 The British Columbia Vegetable Order footnote 1 is repealed.

Coming into Force

Registration

5 This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issues

The British Columbia Vegetable Order (SOR/81-49), established pursuant to the Agricultural Products Marketing Act (APMA), is one of 90 delegation Orders under the APMA. The Agricultural Products Marketing Act, established in 1949, provides that an Order be made by the Governor in Council for the delegation of authority to provincial organizations to regulate the marketing of agricultural products in interprovincial and export trade markets to the same extent that they regulate marketing in intra-provincial trade, thus creating a comprehensive marketing scheme for all producers located in their respective provinces. The current British Columbia Vegetable Order establishes the British Columbia Vegetable Marketing Commission (the Commission) as the authority regarding the marketing of vegetables, including fixing and collecting levies.

As a result of a review of the regulatory framework under the APMA, conducted by the Farm Products Council of Canada (FPCC) and following recommendations from the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations, inconsistencies were identified in the drafting styles, language and levy amounts among the 90 delegation Orders and the associated levy Orders, which have led to difficulties in interpretation and legal risks at the provincial level. In order to make all delegations made under the APMA consistent and streamline the processes for making amendments, such as allowing the fixation of levies at the provincial level, the majority of the delegations require non-substantive housekeeping amendments.

This proposal to amend the British Columbia Vegetable Order is the initial submission in the context of the broader APMA modernization project, which will amend all 90 delegation Orders and over 70 associated levy Orders.

In an effort to modernize the British Columbia Vegetable Order, FPCC has consulted with the Commission and the provincial supervisory board, the British Columbia Farm Industry Review Board (BCFIRB), to discuss the issues associated with the current expression of the Order and understand the current operating context. The Commission and the BCFIRB have worked with FPCC, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and Justice Canada since late 2018 to identify appropriate amendments to this Order to resolve issues and modernize the Order. Consensus on the renewed language between the stakeholders was achieved in early 2020, but the path forward was delayed due to the COVID-19 crisis. The proposed amendments to the current Order will address outdated definitions and references to provincial regulations, the absence of the provincial oversight entity which oversees the Commission and its authority, and the current processes used to make amendments that involve both federal and provincial bodies and which have led to very long timelines and recommendations that have not always been fully implemented.

Objective

To clarify and update the authorities of the Commission and the BCFIRB, and thereby streamline the process by which levies are fixed on interprovincial and export trade of vegetables produced in British Columbia.

The amendments also address the technical issues and outdated language concerning the Order, as identified by the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations.

Description and rationale

A number of minor technical amendments are proposed to this Order. These include clarifying the definition of what is covered under the term “vegetable”; updating the name of the governing provincial regulations; removing the requirement to make amendments to the Order and the associated levy Order at the federal level, thereby permitting a more streamlined process at the provincial level; adding the provincial supervisory board to provide approval and oversight functions to the Commission’s regulatory activities; and repealing obsolete or spent regulatory provisions that have no current application. Through these amendments, the regulatory processes covering intra-provincial, interprovincial and export marketing of vegetables will be updated to serve the industry more efficiently. These amendments harmonize the terms with related Orders under the APMA.

One-for-one rule and small business lens

The one-for-one rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs or burden to businesses. Analysis under the small business lens determined that the proposal does not impact small businesses in Canada.

Contact

Carole Gendron
Director
Regulatory and Sectoral Affairs
Farm Products Council of Canada
960 Carling Avenue
CEF, Building 59
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0C6
Telephone: 613‑759‑1562
Fax: 613‑759‑1505
Teletypewriter: 613‑759‑1737
Email: carole.gendron@canada.ca