British Columbia 
Marketing Boards and Commissions

Click here to view names, addresses and contact information for provincial Marketing Boards and Commissions.

The Natural Products Marketing (BC) Act provides for the creation of marketing boards and commissions to administer schemes for the promotion, control and regulation in the province of the production, transportation, packing, storage and marketing of natural products, or the prohibition of the same. At present, eight marketing boards administer schemes. They are:

Supply managed:

BC Broiler Hatching Egg Commission
BC Chicken Marketing Board
BC Egg Marketing Board
BC Milk Marketing Board
BC Turkey Marketing Board

Regulated industries:

BC Cranberry Marketing Commission
BC Hog Marketing Commission
BC Vegetable Marketing Commission

The operations of the boards and commissions are funded entirely by producers through licence fees or levies. The boards are composed primarily of elected producers and Chairs appointed by the Lieutenant Governor-In-Council.

Powers of Marketing Boards and Commissions

The powers vested in the marketing boards and commissions vary with the purpose of the marketing scheme. All marketing boards and commissions are granted authority to make orders, rules and regulations deemed necessary to carry out the purposes of the schemes and generally they have the authority to seize any product produced and/or marketed in violation of the orders. As well, the majority of the marketing boards and commissions may collect full information from producers regarding production and marketing and, with the approval of the British Columbia Farm Industry Review Board, may designate marketing agencies.

Supply managed marketing boards and commissions have the authority to permit or prohibit the production of their commodities within British Columbia. Supply management was established to assure consumers of a stable supply of quality food products while ensuring that producers received their costs of production plus a reasonable return on investment. Under Federal-Provincial Agreements, a national agency estimates the annual demand for a product and allocates the demand among participating provinces based on historical provincial allocations. National agencies control inter-provincial and export trade and in some commodities may operate surplus removal programs.

The provincial supply managed marketing boards and commissions have been vested with the authority to regulate production through establishment of a quota system. In addition, the marketing boards and commissions have been vested with the authority to set prices for intraprovincial sales, to licence producers and processors and to fix levies.

In the other regulated industries, marketing boards and commissions may be granted authority to establish marketing quotas, establish prices, collect levies and licence producers. Only the Vegetable Marketing Commission has been granted all of these powers.