Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act (S.C. 1997, c. 6)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

Agency

Agency means the Canadian Food Inspection Agency established by section 3. (Agence)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. (ministre)

Establishment of the Agency

Marginal note:Establishment

3 There is hereby established a body corporate called the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which may exercise powers only as an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Marginal note:Minister responsible

• 4 (1) The Minister is responsible for and has the overall direction of the Agency.

• Marginal note:Delegation by Minister

  (2) The Minister may delegate to any person any power, duty or function conferred on the Minister under this Act or any Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11, except the power to make regulations and the power to delegate under this subsection.

Organization and Head Office

Marginal note:Appointment of Agency executives

5 The Governor in Council shall appoint a President and an Executive Vice-president of the Agency to hold office during pleasure for a term not exceeding five years, which term may be renewed for one or more further terms.

Marginal note:President’s powers

• 6 (1) The President is chief executive officer of the Agency and has supervision over and direction of its work and staff. The President has the rank and all the powers of a deputy head of a Department.

• Marginal note:Executive Vice-president’s powers

  (2) The Executive Vice-president shall exercise such powers and perform such duties and functions as the President may assign and shall act as President if that office is vacant or if the President is absent or incapacitated.

Marginal note:Delegation by President

7 The President may delegate to any person any power, duty or function conferred on the President under this Act or any other enactment.

Marginal note:Remuneration

8 The President and Executive Vice-president shall be paid such remuneration as is fixed by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Head office

9 The head office of the Agency shall be in the National Capital Region, as described in the schedule to the National Capital Act.

Advisory Board

Marginal note:Appointment of members

• 10 (1) The Minister shall appoint an advisory board of not more than twelve members to hold office during pleasure for a term not exceeding three years, which term may be renewed for one or more further terms.

• Marginal note:Role of advisory board

  (2) The board shall advise the Minister on any matter within the responsibilities of the Agency.

• Marginal note:Representation

  (3) The Minister may appoint any person with relevant knowledge or experience to the advisory board, including persons from the agriculture, fisheries, food processing, food distribution and public health sectors, consumer groups or provincial or municipal governments.

• Marginal note:Chairperson

  (4) The Minister shall appoint one of the members as Chairperson of the advisory board.

• Marginal note:Fees for services

  (5) Each member of the advisory board shall be paid such fees for his or her services as are fixed by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Travel and living expenses

  (6) Each member of the advisory board shall be reimbursed for reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by the member in the course of performing duties under this Act while absent from his or her ordinary place of residence.

• Marginal note:Meetings

  (7) The Chairperson may determine the times and places at which the advisory board will meet.

Responsibilities of the Agency

Marginal note:Administration and enforcement

• 11 (1) The Agency is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act, Feeds Act, Fertilizers Act, Health of Animals Act, Plant Breeders’ Rights Act, Plant Protection Act, Safe Food for Canadians Act and Seeds Act.

• (2) [Repealed, 2012, c. 24, s. 103]

• Marginal note:Food and Drugs Act

  (3) The Agency is responsible for

  • (a) the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act as it relates to food, as defined in section 2 of that Act; and

  • (b) the administration of the provisions of the Food and Drugs Act as they relate to food, as defined in section 2 of that Act, except those provisions that relate to public health, safety or nutrition.

• Marginal note:Role of Minister of Health

  (4) The Minister of Health is responsible for establishing policies and standards relating to the safety and nutritional quality of food sold in Canada and assessing the effectiveness of the Agency’s activities related to food safety.

• Marginal note:Role of Canada Border Services Agency

  (5) The Canada Border Services Agency is responsible for the enforcement of the program legislation referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition program legislation in section 2 of the Canada Border Services Agency Act as that program legislation relates to the delivery of passenger and initial import inspection services performed at airports and other Canadian border points other than import service centres.

Human Resources

Marginal note:Separate agency

12 The Agency is a separate agency under the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations Act.

Marginal note:President’s authority to appoint employees

• 13 (1) The President has the authority to appoint the employees of the Agency.

• Marginal note:Terms and conditions of employment

  (2) The President may set the terms and conditions of employment for employees of the Agency and assign duties to them.

• Marginal note:Enforcement officers

  (3) The President may designate any person or class of persons as inspectors, analysts, graders, veterinary inspectors or other officers for the enforcement or administration of any Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11, in respect of any matter referred to in the designation.

Powers of the Agency

Marginal note:Contracts and agreements

• 14 (1) The Agency may enter into contracts, memoranda of understanding and other agreements with a department or agency of the Government of Canada or the government of a province and with any other person or organization in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada or in its own name.

• Marginal note:International arrangements

  (2) In exercising its responsibilities, the Agency may negotiate and enter into arrangements for the implementation of technical requirements for the international movement of products or other things regulated under an Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11.

Marginal note:Legal proceedings

15 Actions, suits or other legal proceedings in respect of any right or obligation acquired or incurred by the Agency, whether in its own name or in the name of Her Majesty in right of Canada, may be brought or taken by or against the Agency in the name of the Agency in any court that would have jurisdiction if the Agency were not an agent of Her Majesty.

Marginal note:Choice of service providers

16 Notwithstanding section 9 of the Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, the Agency may, with the approval of the Governor in Council given on the recommendation of the Treasury Board, procure goods and services, including legal services, from outside the federal public administration.

Marginal note:Intellectual property

17 The Agency may license, sell or otherwise make available any patent, copyright, industrial design, trademark or other similar property right that is vested in Her Majesty in right of Canada under any Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11.

Marginal note:Interim injunction

18 The Agency may apply to a judge of a court of competent jurisdiction for an interim injunction enjoining any person from contravening an Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11, whether or not a prosecution has been instituted in respect of that contravention.

Recalls

Marginal note:Recall order

• 19 (1) Where the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that a product regulated under an Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11 poses a risk to public, animal or plant health, the Minister may, by notice served on any person selling, marketing or distributing the product, order that the product be recalled or sent to a place designated by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Contravention of recall order

  (2) Any person who contravenes a recall order referred to in subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both.

• Marginal note:Notification of order

  (3) For greater certainty, a recall order is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act, but no person shall be convicted of an offence under subsection (2) unless the person was notified of the order.

Marginal note:Regulations

19.1 The Governor in Council may make regulations respecting the recall of products regulated under an Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11.

Review of Certain Measures

Marginal note:Review officer

19.2 The Minister may designate as review officers any individual or class of individuals that are qualified to conduct reviews under section 19.3.

Marginal note:Request for review

• 19.3 (1) On the request of a prescribed person in relation to a prescribed decision made under an Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of section 11, a review officer must conduct a review of the decision in the prescribed manner subject to the regulations and the other provisions of this section.

• Marginal note:Contents of request

  (2) The request must be made in the prescribed manner, contain the prescribed information and be made in the prescribed time after the making of the decision.

• Marginal note:Ineligibility

  (3) The review officer must be a person other than the one who made the decision.

• Marginal note:Restriction

  (4) The review is restricted to questions of fact alone or questions of mixed law and fact.

• Marginal note:No authority to review

  (5) The review is not to be conducted if the request does not comply with subsection (2) or is frivolous, vexatious or not made in good faith.

• Marginal note:Reasons for refusal

  (6) If subsection (5) applies, the person who made the request is to be, without delay, notified in writing of the reasons for the review not being conducted.

• Marginal note:Decision not stayed

  (7) The conduct of the review does not stay the decision unless the review officer decides otherwise.

• Marginal note:Decision on completion of review

  (8) On completion of the review, the review officer must confirm, vary or cancel the decision.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (9) The person who made the request must, without delay, be notified in writing of the reasons for the review officer’s decision under subsection (8).

• Marginal note:Regulations

  (10) The Governor in Council may make regulations prescribing anything that by this section is to be prescribed.

Establishment of Federal-Provincial Corporations

Marginal note:Federal-provincial agreements

20 The Minister may, with the approval of the Governor in Council given on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, enter into an agreement with one or more provincial governments for the provision of services or the carrying out of activities within the responsibilities of the Agency, in common with those governments.

Marginal note:Object of agreements

21 The agreement referred to in section 20 may authorize the Minister, jointly with one or more provincial governments, to have a corporation incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act or an equivalent provincial statute, or to acquire shares or participate in any corporation, in order to implement the agreement.

Corporate Business Plan and Annual Report

Marginal note:Corporate business plan

• 22 (1) As soon as possible after the Agency is established and at least once every five years after that, the Agency must submit a corporate business plan to the Minister for approval and the Minister must table a copy of the plan in each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Minister approves the plan.

• Marginal note:Contents of corporate business plan

  (2) The corporate business plan must include a statement of

  • (a) the Agency’s objectives for the period to which the plan relates and for each year in that period;

  • (b) the strategies that the Agency intends to use to achieve its objectives, including operational, financial and human resource strategies;

  • (c) the Agency’s expected performance over that period; and

  • (d) the Agency’s operating and capital budgets for each year of that period.

• Marginal note:Updating of corporate business plan

  (3) The Agency may update its corporate business plan in its annual report.

Marginal note:Annual report

• 23 (1) The President must, before September 30 of each year following the Agency’s first full year of operations, submit an annual report on the operations of the Agency for the preceding year to the Minister and the Minister must table a copy of the report in each House of Parliament on any of the first fifteen days on which that House is sitting after the Minister receives the report.

• Marginal note:Form and contents

  (2) The annual report must include

  • (a) the financial statements of the Agency;

  • (b) information about the Agency’s performance with respect to the objectives established in the corporate business plan; and

  • (c) any other information that the Minister or the Treasury Board may require to be included in it.

Fees and Expenditures

Marginal note:Fees for services or use of facilities

• 24 (1) Subject to the regulations, the Minister may fix the fees to be paid for a service or the use of a facility provided by the Agency.

• Marginal note:Amount not to exceed cost

  (2) Fees fixed under subsection (1) may not exceed the cost to Her Majesty in right of Canada of providing the service or the use of the facility.

Marginal note:Fees for products, rights and privileges

25 Subject to the regulations, the Minister may fix fees in respect of products, rights and privileges provided by the Agency.

Marginal note:Service Fees Act

• 25.1 (1) Sections 3 to 15 of the Service Fees Act do not apply to a fee fixed under section 24 for a service or the use of a facility provided by the Agency under the Safe Food for Canadians Act or to a fee fixed under section 25 in respect of products, rights and privileges provided by the Agency under that Act.

• Marginal note:Application of sections 16 to 18

  (2) Despite subsection 22(1) of the Service Fees Act, sections 16 to 18 of that Act apply to a low-materiality fee within the meaning of that Act that is fixed under section 24 for a service or the use of a facility provided by the Agency under the Safe Food for Canadians Act or that is fixed under section 25 in respect of products, rights and privileges provided by the Agency under the Safe Food for Canadians Act.

Marginal note:Consultation

• 26 (1) Before fixing a fee under section 24 or 25, the Minister must consult with any persons or organizations that the Minister considers to be interested in the matter.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (2) The Minister must publish any fee fixed under section 24 or 25 in the Canada Gazette within thirty days after fixing it.

• Marginal note:Reference to Committee

  (3) Any fee fixed under section 24 or 25 stands permanently referred to the Committee referred to in section 19 of the Statutory Instruments Act, to be reviewed and scrutinized as if it were a statutory instrument.

Marginal note:Regulations

27 The Treasury Board may make regulations for the purposes of sections 24 to 26.

Marginal note:Collection of fees

28 The Agency may enter into an agreement with any person, provincial government or other authority respecting the collection of fees fixed under this Act or any other Act that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of subsection 11(1) and, notwithstanding subsections 17(1) and (4) of the Financial Administration Act, authorizing that person, government or authority to withhold amounts from those fees.

Marginal note:Remission of fees

• 29 (1) The Minister may remit all or part of any fee fixed under section 24 or 25 or under any Act that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of subsection 11(1), and the interest on it.

• Marginal note:Non-payment of fees

  (2) The Minister may withdraw or withhold a service, use of a facility, a product or conferral of a right or privilege within the responsibilities of the Agency, from any person who fails to pay the fee fixed for it if, in the Minister’s opinion, it is consistent with public health and safety.

Marginal note:Expenditure

30 In carrying out its responsibilities, the Agency may spend money that Parliament appropriates to it and revenues received by it through the conduct of its operations, including

• (a) payments for the sale, exchange, lease, loan, transfer or other disposition of personal or movable property;

• (a.1) payments for the sale, lease or other disposition or transfer of real or immovable property;

• (b) fees for the provision of a service or use of a facility or for a product, right or privilege; and

• (c) refunds of expenditures made in the previous fiscal year.

Accounting

Marginal note:Books and records

31 The Agency must keep books of account and records prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles.

32 [Repealed, 2012, c. 19, s. 188]

Transitional Provisions

Marginal note:Appropriation Act

32.1 The provisions made by any appropriation Act for the fiscal year in which this section comes into force or a subsequent fiscal year, based on the Estimates for that year, to defray the charges and expenses of the public service of Canada within the Departments of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Fisheries and Oceans and Health in relation to any matter for which the Agency is responsible by virtue of section 11 are deemed to be an amount appropriated for defraying the charges and expenses of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency in such amount as the Treasury Board may, on the recommendations of the Ministers of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Fisheries and Oceans and Health, determine.

Marginal note:Agency employees continued

• 33 (1) On the coming into force of subsection 13(1), employees deployed to the Agency, or appointed to it by the Public Service Commission, are deemed to have been appointed by the President and continue to be employed by the Agency with the same tenure of office.

• Marginal note:Pending competitions and appointments

  (2) On the coming into force of subsection 13(1), a competition being conducted or an appointment being made under the Public Service Employment Act shall continue to be conducted or made as if that section had not come into force.

Marginal note:Eligibility lists

34 An eligibility list made under the Public Service Employment Act that is valid on the coming into force of subsection 13(1) of this Act continues to be valid for the period provided for by subsection 17(2) of that Act, but that period may not be extended.

Marginal note:Pending appeals

• 35 (1) An appeal commenced under section 21 of the Public Service Employment Act and not finally disposed of on the coming into force of subsection 13(1) of this Act shall be dealt with and disposed of in accordance with that Act as if that subsection had not come into force.

• Marginal note:Other recourse

  (2) Any recourse commenced under the Public Service Employment Act that has not been finally dealt with on the coming into force of subsection 13(1) of this Act shall be dealt with and disposed of in accordance with that Act as if that subsection had not come into force.

Marginal note:Designations continued

36 Every inspector, analyst, grader, veterinary inspector or other officer appointed or designated under an Act referred to in section 11 to enforce or administer any Act or provision that the Agency enforces or administers by virtue of that section is deemed to be designated by the President under subsection 13(3), according to the terms of the original designation or appointment.

Consequential Amendments

37 to 89 [Amendments]

Conditional Amendments

90 and 91 [Amendments]

Repeal

92 [Repeal]

Coming into Force

Marginal note:Coming into force

Footnote ^*93 This Act, or any provision of this Act, or any provision of any Act enacted or amended by this Act, comes into force on a day or days to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council.

• Return to footnote ^*[Note: Act, except subsection 13(1) and section 31, in force April 1, 1997, see SI/97-37; subsection 13(1) in force April 1, 1998, see SI/97-122; section 31 in force March 31, 2000, see SI/2000-21.]