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A commodity group must go through several steps before the federal government will grant its application for powers under the Agricultural Products Marketing Act.
- The group must exist as an official agricultural sector commodity body, to which a provincial government has legally granted regulatory powers over a product within that province.
- The powers granted the group by a provincial government must be set out in an official Provincial Marketing Plan.
- The group must decide it wants the same regulatory powers over a product in interprovincial and export trade as it has in intraprovincial trade.
- The group must apply to the National Farm Products Council for APMA authority. The written application must include certain documents. The provincial commodity group must prepare and include:
- The group may need to provide more information, clarify its application or work more with its provincial government while the federal government assesses and decides on the application.
- If the application is successful, the federal government sets out the powers granted the group by issuing an APMA Delegation Order, from which orders or regulations may be issued at a later date.
- A group may apply again in writing via the NFPC to amend a Delegation Order. This may require a new Order, a new RIAS or trigger a completely new assessment and decision process. If the changes are minor, it may just require amending.
NFPC Procedure
The National Farm Products Council follows this procedure in evaluating requests:
- Client Board submits a request in writing to the NFPC for a new delegation Order or an amendment to an existing Order. The request consists of a draft Order, a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) and a copy of the current provincial marketing plan.
- In the case of a new Order, a legal opinion from the provincial Attorney General that the Board is authorized, within the province, to exercise powers of regulation with respect to the marketing of its specific farm product is mandatory and must be provided at the time of the request.
- NFPC reviews the request and obtains any additional information required at this point.
- NFPC sends the proposed order or amendment together with the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement for review and comment to its legal counsel and to the Strategic Policy Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, including the legal opinion from the province and the provincial marketing plan.
- NFPC Legal Counsel and Strategic Policy Branch submit comments to Council within ten working days. Any recommendations for changes to the Order are communicated to the client at this point by the Council.
- If all parties agree that the application should go forward, the NFPC sends the order to the Regulations Section of Justice Canada for examination under the Statutory Instruments Act (blue-stamping).
- When the Order is approved by Justice, NFPC prepares a cabinet submission to accompany the blue-stamped copies of the Order, consisting of a draft Order in Council, Recommendation to the Governor in Council, Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement, and Communications Plan. A Memorandum to the Minister seeking his signature on the recommendation to Governor In Council will be prepared by the NFPC, reflecting the views and recommendations of both the NFPC and Strategic Policy Branch. The Memorandum will be copied to Strategic Policy Branch before its submission to the Minister.
- If the Minister agrees to sign the recommendation, the submission is returned to the NFPC for submission to the Special Committee of Council (SCC).
- Submissions to SCC must be received by the SCC Secretariat two weeks in advance of a scheduled SCC meeting, in order to be placed on the agenda. The SCC meets every Wednesday while the House of Commons is in session.
- The SCC may decide that the Order shall be pre-published in the Canada Gazette Part I, for a period of not less than thirty days. Council staff will inform the client of the decision of the SCC as soon as possible. Part I of the Gazette is published every Saturday and submissions must be received one week in advance. The thirty day period begins the day after the Order is published. The public may make comments on the proposed Order to the Council and the Council will report on the nature and number of comments received, to the SCC.
- If there have been no negative comments received , the Council will re-submit the Order to the SCC for approval and final publication in Part II of the Gazette. Again, the submission must be in to SCC two weeks in advance of the meeting. If the SCC approves the issuing of an Order in Council, that Order in Council is effective the date of the SCC's decision. The Order is then published in Part II, which comes out every other Wednesday. Council staff will inform the client as soon as possible of the SCC's decision.
General Comments on Timeframes
While the Council has responsibility for the administration of the Agricultural Products Marketing Act, the Strategic Policy Branch of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has responsibility for all policy issues related to the Act and delegation orders under the Act. It is necessary, therefore, that all legal instruments proposed to be made under the APMA be reviewed, not only by legal counsel, but by Strategic Policy Branch officials, as a first step. Submissions requiring approval by the Regulations Section at Justice are subject to the timelines of that Department, and depending on the complexity of the submission, those timelines may vary substantially. Delegation Orders require the signature of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food before submission to SCC. Special Committee of Council has its own procedures and timeframes as noted in the steps above. Each APMA file is unique: some submissions are straightforward, while others require more research and discussion with clients and legal advisers.
Council commits to communicating with supervisory boards and the APMA clients, on a regular basis, with regard to the status of submissions.
Additional Information
As a matter of general information, and for the use of client boards and Commissions, templates of a Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement and a Delegation Order are attached. These are to be used for format purposes only. Council staff can provide advice on drafting procedures.
For more information:
Carola McWade
Deputy Executive Director and Registrar
National Farm Products Council
344 Slater Street, 10th Floor, Canada Building
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7Y3
Tel: (613) 995-9697
Fax: (613) 995-2097
E-mail: mcwadec@agr.gc.ca
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