Plant Protection Act (S.C. 1990, c. 22)

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

• 47 (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act and prescribing anything that is to be prescribed under this Act, including regulations

  • (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;

  • (b) governing the issue, renewal, amendment, suspension and revocation of permits, certificates or other documents on such terms and conditions as may be required for the purposes of this Act;

  • (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;

  • (c) prohibiting or regulating the importation of food or garbage into Canada;

  • (d) regulating any activity referred to in section 6;

  • (e) designating places of entry where things may be presented for inspection and admittance into Canada;

  • (f) governing investigations and surveys to detect pests and to identify areas of infestation;

  • (g) respecting the declaration of things infested with pests and things free of infestation;

  • (h) respecting the declaration under sections 11, 12 and 15 of places that are infested;

  • (i) prohibiting or regulating the use of places that are, or are suspected of being, infested with pests and of things that are, or are suspected of being, pests or infested with pests or that constitute or could constitute biological obstacles to the control of pests;

  • (j) governing the quarantine of things;

  • (k) for the establishment of inspection and treatment centres and quarantine stations;

  • (l) governing the disposition of things that are, or are suspected of being, pests or infested with pests or that constitute or could constitute biological obstacles to the control of pests;

  • (m) respecting the detention or disposition of things seized, forfeited or confiscated under this Act;

  • (n) governing the treatment or manner of treatment to be administered to places or things and requiring persons to administer or to arrange the administration of the treatment;

  • (o) governing the removal from places where treatment is administered of persons or things that present obstacles to the treatment or that may be adversely affected by it;

  • (p) requiring things to be marked or identified or to have affixed to them labels, tags, seals or other devices and prohibiting the removal, breaking, tampering with or altering of those marks, labels, tags, seals or other devices;

  • (q) prescribing the terms and conditions on which compensation may be ordered under section 39 and the maximum levels of compensation;

  • (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;

  • (s) prescribing any fees or charges, or the manner of calculating any fees or charges, required for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act or the regulations; and

  • (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.

• 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.

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.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:General offence

• 48 (1) Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act, other than section 9, or the regulations or who refuses or neglects to perform any duty imposed by or under the Act or the regulations is guilty of

  • (a) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; or

  • (b) an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

• Marginal note:Possession of illegal imports

  (2) Every person who contravenes section 9 is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars.

• Marginal note:No imprisonment

  (3) Notwithstanding the Criminal Code, no person shall be committed to prison for default of payment of a fine imposed under subsection (2).

Marginal note:Failure to comply with notices

49 Every person who fails to comply with a notice communicated to the person under section 6, 8, 24, 30 or 36 or the regulations is guilty of

• (a) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; or

• (b) an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

Marginal note:Contravention of prohibition or restriction

• 50 (1) Every person who contravenes a prohibition or restriction imposed under subsection 13(1) or 15(3) is guilty of

  • (a) an offence punishable on summary conviction and liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both; or

  • (b) an indictable offence and liable to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both.

• Marginal note:Defence

  (2) No person shall be found guilty of an offence consisting of a contravention of a prohibition or restriction imposed by the Minister or an inspector unless it is proved that, at the time of the alleged contravention,

  • (a) the person had been notified of the prohibition or restriction; or

  • (b) reasonable steps had been taken to bring the substance of the prohibition or restriction to the notice of persons likely to be affected by it.

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.

Marginal note:Ticket offences

52 The Governor in Council may make regulations designating the contravention of any provision of this Act or the regulations as an offence with respect to which, notwithstanding the provisions of the Criminal Code,

• (a) an inspector may lay an information and issue and serve a summons by completing a ticket in the prescribed form, affixing the inspector’s signature thereto and delivering the ticket to the person alleged to have committed the offence specified therein at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed, or

• (b) the summons may be served on an accused by mailing the summons to the accused at the accused’s latest known address,

and any regulations made under this section shall establish a procedure for voluntarily entering a plea of guilty and paying a fine in respect of each offence to which the regulations relate and shall prescribe the amount of the fine to be paid in respect of each offence.

Marginal note:Recovery of fines

53 Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act and a fine that is imposed as punishment is not paid when required, the prosecutor may, by filing the conviction, enter as a judgment the amount of the fine and costs, if any, in the superior court of the province in which the trial was held, and the judgment is enforceable against the convicted person in the same manner as if it were a judgment obtained by Her Majesty in right of Canada against the person in that court in civil proceedings.

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.

Marginal note:Place of trial

56 A prosecution for an offence under this Act may be instituted, heard and determined in the place where

• (a) the offence was committed or the subject-matter of the prosecution arose;

• (b) the accused was apprehended; or

• (c) the accused happens to be, or is carrying on business.

Evidence

Marginal note:Certificates and reports

• 57 (1) In any proceedings for a violation, or for an offence under this Act, a declaration, certificate, report or other document of the Minister or an inspector, purporting to have been signed by the Minister or the inspector, is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the matters asserted in it.

• Marginal note:Copies of documents

  (2) In any proceedings for a violation, or for an offence under this Act, a copy of or an extract from any record or other document that is made by the Minister or an inspector under this Act or the regulations and that appears to have been certified under the signature of the Minister or the inspector as a true copy or extract is admissible in evidence without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed it and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, has the same probative force as the original would have if it were proved in the ordinary way.

• Marginal note:Presumed date of issue

  (3) Any document referred to in subsection (1) or (2) shall, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be deemed to have been issued on the date that it bears.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (4) No declaration, certificate, report, copy, extract or other document referred to in this section shall be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has, before the trial, served on the party against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice of that intention, together with a duplicate of the declaration, certificate, report, copy, extract or other document.