m-35 - Farm Products Marketing Act

Replaced on 12 September 1990

This document has official status.

chapter M-35

Farm Products Marketing Act

Chapter M-35 is replaced by the Act respecting the marketing of agricultural, food and fish products (chapter M-35.1). (1990, c. 13, s. 228).

1990, c. 13, s. 228.

DIVISION I DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION

1. In this act, the orders of the Board and the regulations, unless the context indicates a different meaning, the following words and expressions mean:

(a)  “purchaser” : the purchaser of a farm product or, in the case of a product to which a plan applies and at the request of a person contemplated by such plan, the person designated by the Board after giving the interested parties the opportunity to be heard;

(b)  “association of producers” : a farmers’ cooperative syndicate, a farmers’ cooperative, an agricultural cooperative, a farmers’ association or professional syndicate, a union, a federation or confederation of such bodies or a professional or cooperative group of producers;

(c)  “farm journal” : a newspaper or periodical having broad distribution in the farm community;

(d)  “marketing” : the sale, grading, processing, purchasing, storage, penning and shipping for purposes of sale, offering for sale and shipping of any farm product, and the advertisement and financing of operations related to the selling of such product on the market;

(e)  “producers’ board” or “board” : the body entrusted with implementation and administration of a joint plan to market farm products;

(f)  “joint plan” or “plan” : a plan established under this act for the marketing of farm products;

(g)  “producer” : a producer or association of producers of a farm product, including, in the cases determined by an order of the Board, a person who is not a producer or an association of producers but who participates in the production of a farm product on behalf of another;

(h)  “farm product” : an agricultural, horticultural, avicultural or forest product, in its raw state or partly or wholly processed by or for the producer, including, in particular, farm and farm-yard animals, live or slaughtered, their meat, poultry, eggs, wool, dairy products, grains, fruits, vegetables, maple products, honey, tobacco, wood, beverages or foodstuffs derived from agricultural products and any other agricultural or food product or commodity designated by the Government.

(i)  “marketed product” : any farm product to which a plan applies;

(j)  “Board” : the Régie des marchés agricoles du Québec constituted by this act;

(k)  “by-laws” : the by-laws made by a producers’ board or, as the case may be, a general meeting of producers.

1974, c. 36, s. 1; 1977, c. 5, s. 14; 1982, c. 26, s. 307.

2. The object of this act is to make available to producers and consumers an additional means for the orderly and fair marketing of farm products and it shall not be interpreted as tending to compete with the cooperative organization for the production and marketing of farm products.

This principle must guide the application of this act so as not to hamper cooperative action in the regions and sectors where such action effectively meets the needs and to take advantage, as far as possible, of the collaboration of cooperatives for the establishment and administration of joint plans in the sectors of production and the regions where it is desirable to establish them.

1974, c. 36, s. 2.

2.1. It is the object of this act to regulate the production of farm products in Québec and the marketing of farm products in intraprovincial trade.

1979, c. 4, s. 1.

DIVISION II RÉGIE DES MARCHÉS AGRICOLES

3. An organization to supervise, coordinate and improve the marketing of farm products is established by this act under the name of “Régie des marchés agricoles du Québec”.

1974, c. 36, s. 3; 1977, c. 5, s. 14.

4. The general duties of the Board are to promote the orderly, effective and fair marketing of farm products.

For that purpose, it shall assist in directing farm production, co-ordinating the various operations of marketing farm products and cooperate with producers, cooperative or professional organizations of farmers, associations of consumers and representatives of industry and commerce, and other persons engaged in marketing farm products.

The Board is also responsible for exercising the duties and powers assigned to it under the following Acts: the Dairy Products and Dairy Products Substitutes Act (chapter P-30), the Act respecting the sales price of pulpwood sold by farmers (chapter P-25), the Farm Producers Act (chapter P-28), the Grain Act (chapter G-1.1) and the Farm Products Marketing Act (chapter M-35).

1974, c. 36, s. 4; 1987, c. 35, s. 9.

5. The corporate seat of the Board is in the territory of the Communauté urbaine de Montréal or its immediate vicinity and it has an office in the territory of the Communauté urbaine de Québec.

It may sit at any place in Québec.

1974, c. 36, s. 5; 1977, c. 5, s. 14.

6. The Board is composed of not more than eight members, including a chairman and three vice-chairmen, appointed by the Government for a term of not over ten years.

Each member shall remain in office after the expiry of his term until replaced or reappointed. The Government may, however, for cause, dismiss a member during his term of office.

The Government shall determine the salaries of the members and the allowances to which they are entitled. Once fixed, their salaries cannot be reduced.

1974, c. 36, s. 6; 1987, c. 35, s. 10.

7. Three members of the Board constitute a quorum.

The chairman of the Board is entitled to vote as a member and has a casting vote in case of a tie.

If the chairman is absent from a sitting of the Board, either of the vice-chairmen shall replace him and have the same powers.

1974, c. 36, s. 7.

8. The Board may sit simultaneously in divisions composed of at least three members including the chairman or a vice-chairman and a secretary designated by the chairman of the Board.

Except where the Board must exercise its powers by order, a division may hear any matter within the competence of the Board and decide it.

In case of a tie-vote, the chairman of a division has a casting vote.

1974, c. 36, s. 8.

9. The secretary and the other officers and employees of the Board shall be appointed and paid in accordance with the Public Service Act (chapter F-3.1.1).

1974, c. 36, s. 9; 1978, c. 15, s. 140; 1983, c. 55, s. 161.

10. The Government may appoint and assign to the Board any expert considered necessary and fix his remuneration.

It may also, at the request of the Board, appoint for a period not to exceed three months, any person to act as inspector or investigator for the Board. It shall fix the remuneration of such person.

1974, c. 36, s. 10.

11. Every copy of a document emanating from the Board or forming part of its records is authentic and has the same force as the original, if certified by the chairman, the secretary or another person designated by the Board and specially authorized for that purpose.

1974, c. 36, s. 11.

12. The members cannot be sued or prosecuted for any official act performed in good faith in the exercise of their duties.

1974, c. 36, s. 12.

13. Subject to the power of the Board to revise its decisions under section 89 and notwithstanding any legislative provision inconsistent herewith,

(a)  decisions of the Board can only be revised by the Government;

(b)  no extraordinary recourse provided in articles 834 to 850 of the Code of Civil Procedure shall be exercised and no injunction granted against the Board or its members acting in their official capacities.

1974, c. 36, s. 13.

14. A judge of the Court of Appeal may, on motion, summarily annul any writ, order or injunction issued or granted contrary to section 13.

1974, c. 36, s. 14; 1979, c. 37, s. 43.

14.1. Not later than 30 June every year, the Board must make a report of its activities for the preceding fiscal period to the Minister; the report must also contain all such information as the Minister may require.

The report must be tabled before the National Assembly if it is in session or, if it is not in session, within fifteen days of the opening of the next session or resumption.

1982, c. 41, s. 1; 1982, c. 62, s. 143.

14.2. The Board shall on request transmit to the Minister in such form as he may prescribe all such information as he may require in respect of quotas and quota holders.

1982, c. 41, s. 1.

DIVISION III ADVISORY COMMITTEE

15. The Government may constitute, for the periods it determines, advisory committees to advise the Board on special matters relating to the production or marketing of farm products.

The members of these committees receive no salary; they are indemnified for their expenses in attending meetings and receive, where applicable, an attendance allowance fixed by the Government.

1974, c. 36, s. 15.

DIVISION IV JOINT MARKETING PLAN

16. Ten or more interested producers may apply to the Board for approval of a joint plan for the marketing of a farm product derived from a designated territory or intended for a specified purpose or a particular purchaser.

1974, c. 36, s. 16.

17. The application must be attested on oath by at least one of the applicants, be accompanied by a draft of the proposed joint plan and, where such is the case, indicate the reasons for which the proposed plan should be established by the Government.

1974, c. 36, s. 17.

18. An association of producers may submit an application to the Board for approval of a joint plan for the marketing of a farm product of interest to all or some of its members. It shall comply mutatis mutandis with the formalities prescribed by sections 17 and 19 and file with the application and plan a duly certified copy of a resolution of its board of directors authorizing the application and approving the draft plan.

1974, c. 36, s. 18.

19. The draft joint plan shall indicate:

(a)  the names in full, addresses and occupations of the applicants;

(b)  the class of producers and the farm product contemplated by the draft, the territory of origin of the product, and the purchaser for whom or the purpose for which it is intended;

(c)  the composition of the producers’ board to be entrusted with the implementation and administration of the plan;

(d)  the names in full, addresses and occupations of the provisional directors of such board;

(e)  the mode of election or appointment and replacement of subsequent directors;

(f)  the negotiating agent and the sales agent of the interested producers; such agents may be persons designated for such purpose by the plan, a cooperative or professional organization of producers, or the producers’ board itself;

(g)  the powers, duties and functions of the producers’ board and of the negotiating and sales agents;

(h)  where necessary, the establishment, functions and term of office of an advisory committee entrusted with advising the producers’ board, the Board or any other person engaged in the marketing of the contemplated farm product on any matter relating to the administration and implementation of such plan and the by-laws;

(i)  the composition of such advisory committee and the mode of appointment and replacement of its members;

(j)  the mode proposed for financing the administrative expenses incurred by the producers’ board in the efficient carrying out of the plan;

(k)  any other information prescribed by the Board.

For the purposes of subparagraph f, preference is given to a cooperative organization that includes a majority of the producers of the classes of products contemplated by the plan for recognition or choice as sales agent for the interested producers.

1974, c. 36, s. 19.

20. In the draft joint plan, instead of specifying the composition of the producers’ board to be entrusted with implementing and administering the plan, the applicants may, for that purpose, designate a professional syndicate composed exclusively of producers of farm products contemplated by the draft, or a union or federation of such professional syndicates, or a farmers’ cooperative or an agricultural cooperative whose sole object is the marketing of such farm products.

Whenever the carrying out of a joint plan is entrusted to such a body, it is vested, under its corporate name, with all the powers and attributions of a producers’ board and has all the duties thereof.

These attributions, powers and duties shall be exercised by the board of directors of such body, except those reserved to the general meeting of producers under this Act.

1974, c. 36, s. 20; 1982, c. 26, s. 308.

21. The Board shall have published in the Gazette officielle du Québec and in a farm journal a notice of the filing of the application for approval of the draft joint plan giving the information contemplated in subparagraphs a and b of section 19 and the date on which it will hear the persons affected by the proposed plan.

If the applicant has requested that the plan be approved by the Government, the Board must make mention thereof in the notice.

Notwithstanding the second and third paragraphs of section 11 of the Act respecting Access to documents held by public bodies and the Protection of personal information (chapter A-2.1), the Board must furnish a free copy of the draft plan to every person applying for it.

1974, c. 36, s. 21; 1987, c. 68, s. 91.

22. The Board may, by order, after hearing the interested parties, receive the application for approval of a plan, amend the draft plan as it sees fit or reject the application.

To reach its decision, the Board shall assess the advisability of the plan by taking into account the agricultural cooperative movement, the quality and volume of the production to be sold, trade channels, extra-provincial competition, economic conditions and the legitimate interests of producers and consumers.

1974, c. 36, s. 22.

23. If the Board receives the application for approval, it shall, subject to section 26, order that the plan be submitted without amendment or with the amendments it deems expedient to a referendum of the interested producers held in the manner it prescribes by order.

The Board shall determine by order the qualifications required of a producer and the conditions he must fulfil to be considered an interested producer within the meaning of this section on the date stated in the order.

1974, c. 36, s. 23.

24. For the purposes of the referendum contemplated by section 23, the Board shall draw up the list of the interested producers qualified to vote and determine by order:

(a)  the places where the list of producers may be consulted;

(b)  the delay granted to any person who believes he is an interested producer and whose name has not been entered on the list, to make representations to the Board;

(c)  the delay granted to contest the qualification as an interested producer of any person whose name appears on the list;

(d)  the formalities for making public the final list of interested producers.

After these formalities have been fulfilled, the Board shall draw up the final list of the interested producers qualified to vote at the referendum and make it public. The list shall not be contested.

1974, c. 36, s. 24.

25. To come into force a plan must be approved by not less than two-thirds of the producers who have voted. At least one-half of the interested producers must have voted.

1974, c. 36, s. 25.

26. If it is established to the satisfaction of the Board, that a referendum is not advisable in the case submitted, considering, in particular, the urgency of the situation, the requirements of the public interest or the technical or financial difficulties of holding a referendum, the Board, after an inquiry pursuant to section 93, shall forward the record of the matter to the Government together with its recommendations.

The Government may approve the proposed joint plan and, where such is the case, the amendments suggested by the Board in accordance with section 22.

Such plan is then deemed approved in accordance with section 25 and only the Government may suspend its implementation in whole or in part or terminate it.

1974, c. 36, s. 26.

27. The Board shall have every approved plan published in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

The plan shall come into force on the date of its publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec, unless another date has been fixed for such purpose by an order of the Board, and it shall thereupon become executory and bind every person engaged in the production or marketing of the farm product contemplated by the plan.

1974, c. 36, s. 27.

28. Subject to the by-laws made by the producers’ board under sections 67 and 68, every person engaged in the marketing of a marketed product must negotiate with the producers’ board or its negotiating agent to fix the sales price or the minimum sales price for such product and any other terms and conditions for marketing the marketed product.

An agreement resulting therefrom shall have no effect until homologated by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 28.

29. The alienation or concession of the whole or part of an undertaking otherwise than by a judicial sale shall not invalidate a joint plan, an agreement reached under this act, an arbitration decision or any other procedure relating to the approval or carrying out of a joint plan, or such an agreement or arbitration decision.

Notwithstanding such alienation or concession of the whole or part of an undertaking or the division, amalgamation, or change in the juridical structure of the undertaking, the new purchaser for whom the farm product contemplated in the plan is intended is bound by the joint plan, the agreement under this act or the arbitration decision as if he had been named in it, and he becomes ipso facto a party without continuance of suit to any proceeding relating thereto, in the place and stead of the former purchaser.

The Board may make any order considered necessary to establish the transfer of the rights and obligations contemplated in this section and settle any problem resulting from its application.

1974, c. 36, s. 29.

30. Subject to section 87, the Board may amend the provisions of a joint plan if the amendment is approved by referendum held in the manner prescribed in sections 23, 24 and 25.

Such an amendment shall be published and shall come into force in the manner provided in section 27.

1974, c. 36, s. 30.

31. A general meeting of producers, duly called for such purpose, may by by-law:

(a)  replace the body entrusted with implementing the joint plan and entrust the implementation and administration of such plan either to a professional syndicate composed exclusively of producers of farm products contemplated by the plan or a union or federation of such professional syndicates, to a farmers’ cooperative or an agricultural cooperative whose sole object is the marketing of such farm products, or to a producers’ board whose general meeting of producers provides, by by-law, for its composition and the mode of election, replacement or appointment of its members;

(b)  replace the negotiating agent or the sales agent;

(c)  amend the powers, duties and attributions of such agent and the powers, duties and attributions of the producers’ board.

Every by-law made under this section must be passed by a two-thirds majority vote and be submitted for approval to the Board which shall then publish a notice of its filing in a farm journal and give the producers bound by the plan an opportunity to be heard.

The Board may also assess in the manner it considers most appropriate, the opinion of the producers on such by-law.

The Board shall, if it approves the by-law, publish it in the Gazette officielle du Québec. It shall come into force on the date of its publication or on any later date fixed therein by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 31; 1982, c. 26, s. 309.

32. A joint plan and a by-law shall not apply to sales made by a producer directly to a consumer.

The Board may nevertheless, by order, on the conditions it determines, subject such sales to any provision it indicates of a plan, by-law, order of the Board, an agreement it has homologated or an arbitration decision if such sales seriously affect the efficient carrying out of such plan, by-law, order, agreement or decision.

1974, c. 36, s. 32.

DIVISION V PRODUCERS’ BOARD

33. From the coming into force of a joint plan, the producers’ board charged with its carrying out is vested with the powers and attributions of a corporation within the meaning of the Civil Code, including the power to acquire, alienate and hypothecate immoveables and to contract loans for the carrying out of this act and the implementation of a joint plan, a by-law and an order of the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 33.

33.1. No person may assume the title “producers’ board” or any other title that includes the words “producers’ board” without being a producers’ board within the meaning of this act.

1979, c. 4, s. 2.

34. Every borrowing, except for purposes of administration or current business, and every constitution of a hypothec must be authorized by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 34.

35. The producers’ board may exercise all the recourses of a producer under an agreement homologated by the Board, an arbitration decision or a by-law of the board made under section 67 or 68, without having to prove an assignment of the claim of such producer.

1974, c. 36, s. 35.

36. The recourses of several producers against the same person may be joined in a single suit and the total amount of the claim shall determine jurisdiction in first instance and in appeal.

1974, c. 36, s. 36.

37. The producers’ board must keep, in the manner prescribed by the Board, a register or index in which are entered the name in full and address of every producer subject to the joint plan.

1974, c. 36, s. 37.

38. The producers’ board shall furnish the Board with the information it requests respecting the joint plan and its implementation, and allow every person authorized to act as an inspector or investigator for the Board to make inspections and inquiries.

1974, c. 36, s. 38.

39. The producers’ board may make by-laws, consistent with this act, respecting its internal management and any other procedural matter which it is authorized by the Board or a joint plan to regulate.

1974, c. 36, s. 39.

DIVISION VI GENERAL MEETING OF PRODUCERS

40. The board shall call a general meeting of producers at least once a year to adopt the annual report, approve the statement of account for the last fiscal year and, when necessary, elect directors. The producers must, in addition, appoint an auditor for the current year.

1974, c. 36, s. 40.

41. The producers’ board may also order the holding of a special general meeting when it considers it expedient.

In addition, the board must order the holding of such a meeting upon the written request of one-tenth of the producers contemplated by the plan or when the Board considers it necessary.

1974, c. 36, s. 41.

42. The statement of account submitted at the annual general meeting must be accompanied by an auditor’s report. Such report must mention:

(a)  whether or not the auditor has obtained all the information and explanations he had requested;

(b)  whether or not such statement of account faithfully and accurately represents the true state of affairs of the board according to the information and explanations given to the auditor and according to the books of the board;

(c)  any other information prescribed by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 42.

43. The auditor shall, to make his audit, have access to all books, registers, accounts and other records of the board; the directors and officers of the board shall facilitate his examination and give him the information and explanations necessary for the carrying out of his work.

1974, c. 36, s. 43.

44. If the board fails to call and hold an annual general meeting of producers or a special meeting, the Board may, by order, decide to call it.

The members, directors and officers of the board and the auditor must comply with the order given them to attend the general meeting and to furnish all the information requested by the Board or the person it designates to preside over the meeting.

1974, c. 36, s. 44.

45. The producer’s board may by by-law order the division of the producers into groups and authorize each group to elect, in the manner determined by the board, the number of delegates it fixes.

1974, c. 36, s. 45.

46. A by-law made under section 45 must be submitted for approval to the Board which, if it approves it, shall have it published in the Gazette officielle du Québec. It shall come into force on the day of its publication or on the later date fixed by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 46.

47. Every notice calling a general meeting shall be given in writing at least fifteen days before the day of the meeting to each producer entered in the register or index contemplated by section 37.

Such notice shall state the place, day and time of the meeting and any matter not provided for in section 40 which the board wishes to submit to the meeting. However, at the meeting, a producer or, as the case may be, a delegate may request that any matter relating to the joint plan and its implementation be added to the agenda.

The board shall send to the Board within the same delay as that fixed in the first paragraph, copy of the notice of convocation, statement of account and auditor’s report which are to be submitted to the general meeting.

1974, c. 36, s. 47.

48. The general annual meeting or the special meeting shall be constituted of the producers or, where applicable, of the delegates present.

1974, c. 36, s. 48.

49. All the producers contemplated by the plan are entitled to vote at a general meeting; however, when delegates have been elected under section 45, they alone are entitled to vote.

1974, c. 36, s. 49.

50. A producer or, as the case may be, a delegate, at a general meeting, is entitled to only one vote which cannot be given by proxy except in the case of a corporation or an association, when a vote may be given by a proxy having power of attorney.

1974, c. 36, s. 50.

51. Decisions of the general meeting are taken by majority vote except in cases where this act provides otherwise.

1974, c. 36, s. 51.

52. Where the carrying out of a plan is entrusted to an association of producers, such association may hold the annual meeting of its members and the annual general meeting of producers completed by the plan at the same time.

In such case, the directors are elected by the members of the association entitled to vote and any decision on a matter not related to the carrying out of the joint plan is also taken by such members.

1974, c. 36, s. 52.

DIVISION VII AMALGAMATION OF PRODUCERS’ BOARDS

53. Producer’s boards may amalgamate and make the agreements necessary for such purpose.

1974, c. 36, s. 53.

54. Boards proposing to amalgamate shall prepare a deed of agreement prescribing:

(a)  the conditions of amalgamation and the mode of effecting it;

(b)  the name of the board resulting from the amalgamation and the names in full, domiciles and occupations of its provisional directors;

(c)  the mode of replacement and election or appointment of subsequent directors;

(d)  any other measure necessary to effect the amalgamation and provide for the administration and operation of the board resulting from the amalgamation.

1974, c. 36, s. 54.

55. The deed of agreement shall be submitted for approval at the general meeting of each board concerned.

If the deed of agreement is approved by each general meeting, the boards amalgamating shall then apply to the Board, by a joint petition for approval of the deed of agreement.

1974, c. 36, s. 55.

56. If the petition is granted, the Board shall ratify the approval of the deed of agreement by an order and publish the deed of agreement in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

From the date of such publication or any other date which the Board fixes by order, the boards are amalgamated and form a single board under the name provided in the deed of agreement.

1974, c. 36, s. 56.

57. The board resulting from the amalgamation shall exercise the rights and powers, is vested with the property and assumes all the obligations and duties of the boards so amalgamated and suits to which they are party may be continued by or against it without continuance of suit.

Decisions taken and agreements made by the amalgamated boards are presumed to have been taken or made by the board resulting from the amalgamation.

1974, c. 36, s. 57.

DIVISION VIII CERTIFICATION

58. Every cooperative or professional association of purchasers, carriers or other persons bound by a plan may apply to the Régie for certification as representative of the persons interested in the marketing of a product contemplated by the plan or a class of such persons.

If the Board considers an association sufficiently representative of such interested persons, it may grant it certification by an order determining the interested persons or the class of interested persons such association may so represent.

Such association then represents all such interested persons for the purposes of negotiation or agreement with the board or, where applicable, conciliation or arbitration under this act.

1974, c. 36, s. 58; 1982, c. 26, s. 310.

59. The Board may, by order, certify an association or body as representative of the class of persons determined by the Board, in respect of the plan it specifies and only for the purposes it indicates.

Unless the order specifies it, such certification does not allow the association to act as representative for purposes of negotiation and agreement with the producers or of conciliation or arbitration contemplated by this act.

1974, c. 36, s. 59.

60. The Board may, at any time, after giving a certified association the opportunity to be heard, terminate by order its certification for any cause it considers valid.

1974, c. 36, s. 60.

DIVISION IX CONCILIATION AND ARBITRATION

61. The Board has for the purposes of marketing farm products, the power to arbitrate, decide, adjust and otherwise settle any dispute arising at the time or in the course of the carrying out of a joint plan, between persons engaged in the production or marketing of a marketed product.

Subject to the power of revision of the Government contemplated by paragraph a of section 13 and the power of the Board to revise its decisions under section 89, decisions rendered by the Board under this section are final and binding.

1974, c. 36, s. 61.

62. If producers and purchasers or other persons bound by a joint plan fail to agree at the time or in the course of the carrying out of such plan, the Board, at the request of one of the parties, shall appoint a conciliator to confer with the parties in view of reaching an agreement.

The conciliator shall report to the Board within fourteen days of receiving his instructions or within the additional delay agreed upon in writing by the parties.

1974, c. 36, s. 62.

63. If conciliation has not resulted in an agreement, the Board, at the request of an interested party, shall order arbitration of the dispute in the manner proposed or, if there is no proposal, in the manner it determines.

However, the Board may, if it considers it expedient in the circumstances, alter the proposed mode of arbitration, or act itself as arbitrator at the request of one of the parties.

Arbitration must begin and continue diligently and the Board may fix the delay within which the decision must be rendered.

1974, c. 36, s. 63.

64. Arbitration decisions are final and binding and bind the interested parties until, at the request of one party and after giving the others an opportunity to be heard, the Board considers it expedient to suspend their application or to terminate or revise them.

1974, c. 36, s. 64.

65. If a producers’ board or other person bound by a plan refuses unduly, in the opinion of the Board, to negotiate the conditions of marketing the marketed product or, after being called upon, to appear for conciliation or arbitration, the Board may, after giving the interested persons the opportunity to be heard, determine the conditions for marketing the product. Such decision shall replace an arbitration decision and have the same effect.

1974, c. 36, s. 65.

66. Where efficient marketing of a marketed product so requires, the Board may permit a producers’ board to negotiate with another producers’ board agreements on matters within the competence of either such board.

Every agreement entered into between such producers’ boards must, to be valid, be homologated by the Board. A homologated agreement binds the bodies party to it and all the producers contemplated by the joint plans which such bodies are entrusted to implement.

Compulsory arbitration contemplated by sections 62 to 65 does not apply to negotiations provided for in this section, except at the express request of all the producers’ boards concerned.

1974, c. 36, s. 66.

DIVISION X REGULATION OF MARKETING CONDITIONS

67. A producers’ board may by by-law:

(a)  regulate the conditions of production, storage, preparation, handling and shipping of a marketed product, its quality, form, composition, container or packaging and the inscriptions or directions required on the product, its container or packaging;

(b)  prescribe the classification and identification of the product and the conditions on which that classification and identification must be made, and determine for that purpose particular classes, grades and sizes;

(c)  fix production quotas, fix marketing quotas, fix the time and place of production and marketing, and prohibit production and marketing where they are effected in violation of a by-law made under this paragraph;

(d)  determine on what conditions a producer may produce or market a marketed product without regard to the fixed quota, to a fixed standard or to a fixed time or place;

(e)  provide for and establish standards for periodical readjustment of quotas;

(f)  keep for the board part of a quota or part of all the quotas available to all the producers contemplated by the plan and apportion it in whole or in part in accordance with the standards and conditions established for such purpose;

(g)  determine the cases where a quota may be transferred and the conditions of such a transfer;

(h)  determine the mode and conditions of the marketing of a marketed product or prohibit its marketing otherwise than through the producers’ board;

(i)  fix the price or entrust a committee with fixing the price of a marketed product, or a class, variety or grade of such product, regulate the composition of such committee, its functioning, the appointment and replacement of its members and the internal management of such committee; the price fixed under this paragraph may differ from one region to another;

(j)  require a producer to hold a quota to produce or market a marketed product, determine the conditions of the issuance of such quota, prohibit the issuance of any quotas above a prescribed limit, prescribe the reduction of quotas where that limit is or is likely to be reached, forbid production or marketing in violation of the quota, provide the conditions of cancellation, suspension or temporary or permanent reduction by the Board of the quota of a producer for a violation by that producer of this act, a joint plan, an order, a by-law, a duly homologated agreement or an arbitration award, provided that this producer has first been given an opportunity to be heard by the Board, and provide the conditions on which a quota may again be issued;

(k)  impose, on any person who infringes any prescription whatever of a by-law made under paragraphs c to h or j, a penalty based on the volume or quantity of the farm product concerned or on the area under cultivation, and use that penalty for the purposes of sections 76 and 77 or pursuant to the terms of an agreement provided for in Division XI;

(l)  determine what quantity of a marketed product constitutes a surplus of that product for any period that the board may determine, and allocate the whole or a part of the contributions provided for in sections 76 and 77 to payment of the expenses or losses resulting from the disposal of this surplus.

1974, c. 36, s. 67; 1979, c. 4, s. 3.

68. The producers’ board may also by by-law:

(a)  order, organize, direct, co-ordinate and supervise the joint marketing of a marketed product so that the producers whose products are sold during a fixed period on a specified market receive, from the proceeds of sale, the same price for an identical product of the same quantity and quality notwithstanding fluctuations in the sales price for reasons not related to the intrinsic value of the product;

(b)  prescribe the conditions which must govern joint sale, payment of the sales price, apportionment among the producers of the net proceeds of the sale, provisional fixing before sale and final fixing after sale of the instalment or price to be paid to the producer for his product, the payment of the instalment or price so fixed and the reimbursement made by the producers’ board or sales agent to the purchaser from the surplus when the fixed price exceeds the sales price;

(c)  prescribe payment to the producers of an initial instalment on delivery of the marketed product and of subsequent instalments until final payment of the amounts owing to the producers from the proceeds of the sale;

(d)  compel the purchaser to pay the producer the price fixed for his product and, if need be, to pay to the producers’ board or sales agent the surplus of the sales price over the fixed price;

(e)  compel the purchaser to pay the price of a product to the producer’s board or a sales agent so that the board or agent apportions the net profit from the sale in conformity with the by-laws;

(f)  compel the producer of a marketed product to sell it to the board or a sales agent on the conditions determined under this act and withhold from the resale price obtained by the board or the sales agent the payment of the expenses incurred by the board or agent for the marketing of such product.

1974, c. 36, s. 68.

69. The Board may, when it considers it necessary, at the request of an association of producers or a producers’ board and on the conditions it determines, confer, by order, upon an association of producers, after giving it the opportunity to be heard, the rights and obligations of a purchaser for the purposes of the joint offer for sale of a marketed product. Such association then ceases, for such purposes, to be a producer within the meaning of this act.

1974, c. 36, s. 69.

70. The Board may prescribe that a matter which may be the subject of a by-law of a board under sections 67 and 68 must be negotiated between the board and a certified association for the purposes of negotiation, conciliation and arbitration and, failing agreement, the conciliation and arbitration procedure provided by this act applies.

This section applies even if such a by-law is already in force.

1974, c. 36, s. 70.

71. Every by-law made by a board under sections 67 and 68 must be submitted to the Board for approval. The Board may assess the views of the producers on the by-law in the manner it thinks best, and, if it believes it necessary, compel the board to submit it to the general meeting for ratification.

1974, c. 36, s. 71.

72. If the Board approves the by-law, it shall publish it in the Gazette officielle du Québec. It shall come into force on the date of publication or on any later date fixed therein by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 72.

73. A by-law made under sections 67 or 68 shall not be replaced, amended or repealed except in accordance with the procedure prescribed for its making and coming into force.

1974, c. 36, s. 73.

DIVISION XI AGREEMENTS WITH OTHER GOVERNMENTS AND GOVERNMENT BODIES

74. The Government may authorize or even compel the Board or, as the case may be, the Board and a producers’ board to make with the government of Canada or of another province, or with a body of such government, agreements respecting:

(a)  the production or marketing of a farm product;

(b)  any matter within the competence of the Board or producers’ boards respecting a farm product.

Every draft agreement contemplated under this section must be approved by the Government.

1974, c. 36, s. 74.

75. The Government may on the conditions it determines:

(a)  authorize the Board to delegate to a producers’ board all or part of the functions, powers, duties or attributions provided for in the agreements made under section 74 and, if necessary, revoke such delegation;

(b)  authorize a producers’ board to act as agent of the Governor General in Council, to entrust a body authorized under legislation of another Legislature or the Parliament of Canada to regulate the marketing of a farm product, with any function the office may exercise under this act, a joint plan, an order, a by-law or an agreement provided for in section 74, and to perform, on behalf of any body authorized under legislation of another Legislature or the Parliament of Canada to regulate the marketing of a farm product, any function which that body may perform pursuant to that legislation;

(c)  amend a joint plan or by-law respecting such plan to ensure the carrying out of this division or an agreement made under it.

1974, c. 36, s. 75; 1979, c. 4, s. 4.

DIVISION XII CONTRIBUTIONS

76. Expenses incurred for the implementation and administration of a joint plan and the by-laws shall be paid by means of contributions of the producers contemplated by the plan. The amount of the contribution for the implementation of the joint plan must be indicated in the plan.

In addition, when a board makes a by-law under paragraph h of section 67 to determine the methods and conditions of the marketing of a marketed product or to prohibit its marketing otherwise than through itself or makes a by-law under section 68, it may order at the same time that all or part of the contributions contemplated in this section and section 77 be deducted from the proceeds of sales.

1974, c. 36, s. 76.

77. The general meeting of the producers, duly called for that purpose, may make by-laws to:

(a)  change the amount of the contribution contemplated by section 76 and decree that administrative costs to implement any provision of a joint plan, a by-law or this act must be paid out of a special contribution;

(b)  authorize the producers’ board to establish a working fund for the payment of expenses incurred to implement and administer a plan or by-law;

(c)  classify the producers into groups, fix the contributions payable by the producers, with possible variations according to a producers’ group, and use those contributions for the purposes of this section and section 76, including the creation of reserves, the payment of expenses and losses resulting from the marketing of a marketed product, whether or not such product has been produced by the producer required to pay the contribution, and, where applicable, the equalization or adjustment among producers of the moneys realized from the sale of a marketed product during such period as the board may determine.

Sections 71 to 73 apply mutatis mutandis to the making, approval, coming into force, replacement, amendment or repeal of a by-law made under this section.

1974, c. 36, s. 77; 1979, c. 4, s. 5.

78. The Board may of its own initiative or at the request of the producers’ board, by order,

(a)  compel the purchaser of a marketed product, an association of producers marketing such a product or some of them to withhold from amounts to be paid or remitted to the producer of that product all or part of the contributions payable by that producer to the producers’ board entrusted with implementing the plan and to remit to the board, on behalf of the producer, the amounts so withheld;

(b)  fix the amount to be so withheld by the purchaser of a marketed product or an association of producers marketing such a product;

(c)  determine the information which the purchaser of a marketed product or an association of producers marketing such a product must furnish as to the amount so withheld;

(d)  fix the time for remittance of amounts withheld;

(e)  determine the terms and conditions of withholding and remittance.

On failure to follow an order of the Board, the purchaser or the association of producers becomes personally liable to the producers’ board for the amount of the contributions that he or it should have withheld.

1974, c. 36, s. 78; 1982, c. 41, s. 2.

79. Notwithstanding any act or regulation to the contrary, when a professional syndicate or a union or federation of professional syndicates is entrusted with the carrying out of a plan, no producer bound by the plan who is a member of such a syndicate or of a syndicate forming part of such a union or federation is required to pay the assessment payable to be a member of that syndicate for a year during which contributions must be withheld out of amounts attributed to that producer to be remitted to the syndicate, union or federation under a by-law, homologated agreement or arbitration decision.

1974, c. 36, s. 79.

80. When an association of producers is entrusted with the carrying out of a joint plan, it must keep a separate accounting of the administration of the joint plan.

1974, c. 36, s. 80.

DIVISION XIII SUSPENSION OF A PLAN, BY-LAW OR ONE OF THEIR PROVISIONS

81. The Board may for cause suspend or terminate by order the implementation of a joint plan or by-law, or a provision of such plan or by-law. Before applying this section, the Board shall give notice in a farm journal, of the date on which the representations of the persons interested in the plan will be heard.

1974, c. 36, s. 81.

82. When the implementation of a joint plan or by-law or a provision of a by-law is suspended by the Board it may by order, on the conditions and for the time it prescribes:

(a)  entrust any person or body it designates with implementing the plan, by-law or a provision of the by-law and, if need be, replace that person or body;

(b)  take possession of the assets, books, documents and other property used in implementing the plan, by-law or provision of the by-law and ensure the conservation and custody thereof or return them to the person or body it entrusts with implementing it.

From the coming into force of the order, the person or body entrusted by the Board with implementing the plan, by-law or provision of the by-law under subparagraph a shall succeed of right to the body until then entrusted with its implementation and that person or body shall have all its duties, powers and prerogatives until the Board decides otherwise.

1974, c. 36, s. 82.

83. The Board may by order, on the conditions and for the time it prescribes:

(a)  exempt from the total or partial application of a plan, by-law, agreement or order any person or class of persons engaged in the production or marketing of a marketed product or any class or variety of that product;

(b)  exclude from a joint plan or by-law any class or variety of marketed products.

1974, c. 36, s. 83.

DIVISION XIV CERTAIN POWERS OF THE BOARD

84. For the purposes of the marketing of farm products, the Board may:

(a)  require, by order, the persons engaged in the production or marketing of a marketed product to register their names in full, addresses and occupations at the place and on the terms and conditions it determines;

(b)  (paragraph repealed);

(c)  prohibit, by order, the marketing of a farm product or any grade, class or variety of a farm product to ensure the orderly marketing of a marketed product;

(d)  regulate the conditions of every agreement between the producer of a marketed product and any person engaged in the marketing of that product;

(e)  analyse the conditions of the production and marketing of farm products and supervise the implementation and administration of each joint plan;

(f)  require a producers’ board and any person engaged in the production or marketing of a marketed product to transmit to it, at such times and in such form as it may prescribe, any information it may consider appropriate to demand respecting quotas of a marketed product and quota holders.

1974, c. 36, s. 84; 1982, c. 41, s. 3; 1988, c. 28, s. 1.

85. The Board may also, by order:

(a)  enact that a person shall not engage in an activity included in the production or marketing of a marketed product unless he holds a permit therefor issued by the Board;

(b)  determine the conditions to be fulfilled by every person applying for a permit or its renewal and the information he must furnish;

(c)  determine categories of permits and classes of holders of permits and the conditions and restrictions attached to each category and class;

(d)  determine the form and content of applications for permits and the form and content of these permits and establish a tariff of fees for the issue and renewal of permits.

1974, c. 36, s. 85.

86. The Board may suspend, cancel or refuse to renew the permit of any person neglecting or refusing to comply with any provision of this act, a plan, by-law, order, arbitration decision or agreement made with a board respecting the sales price of a product or any other terms and conditions for the marketing of the marketed product.

The Board shall, however, in each case, afford the permit holder the opportunity to be heard.

1974, c. 36, s. 86.

87. Upon request of a board or the person or body entrusted, under section 82, with the implementation of a plan or, as the case may be, a by-law or any provision of a by-law, the Board may, by order, amend, repeal or replace, temporarily or definitively, all or part of a provision of a joint plan, by-law or decision of a board or committee established by a board whenever, after having heard the interested parties, it considers that the provision or decision is no longer in the public interest or in the interest of an efficient marketing of a marketed product.

1974, c. 36, s. 87.

88. The Board may at any time while a joint plan is in force order a referendum to be held on any matter relating to the joint plan or its implementation. Sections 23 and 24 apply mutatis mutandis to such referendum.

1974, c. 36, s. 88.

89. Any interested person may apply to the Board for a review of a decision it has made

(1)  to present a new fact which, if it had been known in due time, might have justified a different decision;

(2)  where, being a party to the issue, he was, for reasons considered sufficient, prevented from being heard;

(3)  where a substantial or procedural defect is likely to invalidate the decision.

1974, c. 36, s. 89; 1986, c. 95, s. 193.

90. The Board may make by-laws respecting its internal management, adopt rules of practice and prescribe forms for use in matters within its competence.

Such by-laws must be submitted to the Government for approval and shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec or on any later date fixed therein.

1974, c. 36, s. 90.

91. Unless otherwise provided, every order of the Board shall come into force on the date it prescribes.

The Board shall publish every order made under this act in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

1974, c. 36, s. 91.

DIVISION XIV.1 GUARANTEE OF PAYMENT OF FARM PRODUCTS

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.1. The Board may, by order,

(a)  prescribe that any person or group of persons buying, holding or receiving from a producer, directly or through an agent, a farm product that it determines, must be the holder of a certificate issued by the Board and establishing that he or it has deposited with the Board a security to guarantee his or its financial liability;

(b)  determine the amount of the security to be deposited and a method according to which this amount is to be adjusted to take into account the fluctuations in the amount of the transactions carried out by the person or group of persons contemplated in paragraph a;

(c)  determine the conditions to be fulfilled by any person or group of persons contemplated in paragraph a for the issue or renewal of the certificate as well as the information and documents that must be furnished;

(d)  determine the term of the certificate, its form and its content and fix a tariff of fees for the issue and renewal of the certificate;

(e)  establish the time when a producer’s claim becomes payable;

(f)  determine the conditions that a producer must fulfill to dispose of the security;

(g)  establish the procedure to be followed for the realization of the security.

If the amount of the security cannot adequately cover all existing claims or if the financial situation in the farming sector so justifies, the Board may determine pro rata the amount that can be paid to each creditor.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.2. No person or group of persons subject to an order made under paragraph a of section 91.1 may buy, hold or receive a farm product from a producer, directly or through an agent, unless that person or group is the holder of a certificate issued by the Board and establishing that the person or group has deposited with the Board the security required to guarantee his or its financial liability.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.3. The Board may, by order, exempt a person or group of persons or certain transactions from the application of an order made under paragraph a of section 91.1.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.4. The Board may revoke a certificate or suspend it for the period it determines if the holder no longer meets the conditions required for the issue of the certificate.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.5. The Board shall, before revoking or suspending a certificate, give the certificate holder the opportunity to be heard.

Notwithstanding the first paragraph, the Board may suspend a certificate for a period of not more than 15 days before hearing the certificate holder if it has reasonable grounds to believe the holder is insolvent or about to become insolvent.

A certified copy of the decision of the Board including the reasons therefor must be sent, by registered or certified mail, to the person concerned and, as the case may be, to the producers, board or certified association concerned.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.6. The producers’ board may, by by-law,

(a)  establish a fund to guarantee payment in full or in part of producers’ claims relating to the marketing of a farm product and determine the terms and conditions of its establishment;

(b)  impose and collect contributions from producers to be paid into the fund contemplated in paragraph a and establish a procedure for the collection of such contributions;

(c)  classify the producers into groups and determine the amount of the contributions payable by the producers, which may vary in relation to the group to which they belong;

(d)  determine the circumstances which entitle a producer to benefit from the fund contemplated in paragraph a.

If the fund cannot adequately cover all existing claims, the producers’ board may determine pro rata the amount that can be paid to each creditor.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.7. Every association certified pursuant to the Farm Producers Act (chapter P-28) may, by by-law, exercise in respect of all producers the same powers as those granted to a producers’ board under section 91.6, adapted as required.

Moreover, if the fund cannot adequately cover all existing claims, a certified association may determine pro rata the amount which can be paid to each creditor.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.8. The amounts collected from the producers by the producers’ board or by the certified association for the establishment of a fund shall be deposited with the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec on the conditions they agree upon.

These amounts and the net income therefrom shall be used exclusively for the payment of claims payable by the fund and for the administration expenses of the fund.

No money may be withdrawn from the fund without prior authorization by the Board.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.9. A producers’ board or a certified association may, in accordance with the terms and conditions it determines by by-law, pay to the producer, in payment of his claim, advances out of the fund contemplated in paragraph a of section 91.6 and in section 91.7.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.10. The producers’ board or the certified association is subrogated in the rights of a producer against a debtor for the claims it has paid out of the fund established under paragraph a of section 91.6 or, as the case may be, section 91.7 and it may recover from the debtor the amounts it has paid on his behalf to the producer.

In addition, the producers’ board or the certified association may exercise all the recourses of a producer as regards the realization of the security contemplated in paragraph a of section 91.1.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.11. Sections 71 and 72, adapted as required, apply to the by-laws made under sections 91.6, 91.7 and 91.9.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.12. The Board may, of its own initiative or at the request of a producers’ board or certified association, by order,

(a)  require all or some of the persons who buy, hold or receive a farm product or all or some of the producers belonging to an association marketing such a product to withhold, from amounts to be paid or remitted to a producer of that product, all or part of the contributions payable by that producer to the producers’ board or certified association, as the case may be, entrusted with the administration of a fund and to remit to the board or association, on behalf of the producer, the amounts so withheld;

(b)  fix the amount to be withheld by any person who buys, holds or receives a farm product or by an association of producers marketing such a product;

(c)  determine the information that all or some of the persons who buy, hold or receive a farm product or all or some of the producers belonging to an association marketing such a product must furnish as to the amounts so withheld;

(d)  fix the time when the amounts withheld must be remitted;

(e)  determine the terms, conditions and procedure applicable to the withholding and remittance.

Any failure to comply with an order of the Board renders all or some of the buyers, holders or receivers or all or some of the producers belonging to an association liable to the board or certified association for the amount of the contributions which they should have withheld.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

91.13. The Act respecting insurance (chapter A-32) and the Insurance Brokers Act (chapter C-74) do not apply to the Board, its members, a producers’ board or a certified association or its administrators, officers or employees in so far as their actions pertain to a fund established under this Act to guarantee the payment of claims to the farm producers.

1988, c. 28, s. 2.

DIVISION XV INQUIRIES AND INSPECTIONS

1986, c. 95, s. 194.

92. The Board may conduct inquiries into any matter relating to the production or marketing of a farm product, and as to the cost of production, processing, distribution and shipping of any farm product, as to prices, markets and methods of classification of farm products and as to any other matter related to the marketing of such products.

1974, c. 36, s. 92.

93. The Board may conduct inquiries, by whatever means it determines, on the advisability of establishing or terminating a joint plan provided for in section 16, 18 or 26, and on any matter relating to the implementation of a joint plan, a by-law and this act or concerning the administration of a board.

1974, c. 36, s. 93.

94. The Board may, by order, oblige persons engaged in the production or marketing of a farm product, including producers’ boards, to keep the books and registers it prescribes, to make reports to it and furnish it with information respecting their operations and everything relating thereto.

Every person or board contemplated by such order shall allow its books and registers to be examined by a member of or a person authorized by the Board to conduct inquiries.

1974, c. 36, s. 94.

95. For the purposes of an inquiry, the Board, its members and any person authorized by it to conduct an inquiry shall have the powers and immunities of commissioners appointed under the Act respecting public inquiry commissions (chapter C-37).

1974, c. 36, s. 95; 1986, c. 95, s. 195.

96. A member of the Board or any person authorized by it to conduct an inspection may:

(a)  stop a motor vehicle or other conveyance when he has reasonable grounds for believing that it is transporting a farm product, enter it and inspect such product;

(b)  enter, at any reasonable time, any producers’ board or establishment or premises used for producing or marketing a farm product or the office of a business producing or marketing a farm product and inspect such product.

During an inspection contemplated by subparagraphs a and b, the member of the Board or person authorized by it to conduct the inspection may obtain a sample of the farm product, examine the books, registers or documents relating to the production or marketing of the product and take extracts from or copies of them.

1974, c. 36, s. 96; 1986, c. 95, s. 196.

97. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, every person in possession of a farm product in a quantity that exceeds the needs of his own consumption is presumed to intend it for sale.

1974, c. 36, s. 97; 1986, c. 95, s. 197.

98. (Repealed).

1974, c. 36, s. 98; 1986, c. 95, s. 198; 1987, c. 68, s. 92.

99. It is forbidden to hinder in any way a member of the Board in the performance of his duties or a person authorized by the Board to conduct an inquiry or an inspection, to mislead or attempt to mislead such member or person by concealment or misrepresentation or refuse to make available to him the books, registers or documents he is permitted to examine under this Act.

A person the Board authorizes to conduct an inquiry or an inspection shall, if so required, identify himself and exhibit a certificate, signed by the chairman of the Board, attesting his authority.

1974, c. 36, s. 99; 1986, c. 95, s. 199.

DIVISION XVI WINDING-UP

100. When the Board terminates a joint plan, the producers’ board entrusted with the carrying out of such plan shall continue to exist for the sole purpose of winding up its affairs; within ninety days after the termination of the joint plan, it shall call a general meeting of producers to appoint one or three liquidators who shall be entitled to immediate possession of the property of the producers’ board.

Where a board fails to call the general meeting or to proceed to the appointment of a liquidator, the Board itself may appoint him.

1974, c. 36, s. 100.

101. The Board shall immediately give notice of the liquidator’s appointment in the Gazette officielle du Québec.

1974, c. 36, s. 101.

102. Upon publication in the Gazette officielle du Québec of the notice of the liquidator’s appointment, every action and every proceeding by way of seizure by garnishment, seizure before judgment or seizure in execution, or otherwise, against the moveable and immoveable property of the producers’ board, must be suspended.

The costs incurred by a creditor after he or his attorney becomes aware of the winding-up, shall not be collocated out of the proceeds of the property of the producers’ board which are distributed in consequence of the winding-up.

Nevertheless, a judge of the Superior Court in the district in which the corporate seat of the producers’ board is located may, on such conditions as he considers proper, authorize the institution of a suit or the continuance of any proceedings commenced.

1974, c. 36, s. 102; 1965 (1st sess.), c. 80, a. 2.

103. The liquidator shall furnish the Board with any information it may require respecting the process of winding-up and the affairs of the producers’ board.

The Board may replace any liquidator who can no longer perform his duties on account of absence or illness or whom it considers for any reason unfit or undesirable.

The Board may also make any order it considers necessary to insure the protection of the rights of the interested parties and an orderly winding-up of the producers’ board.

1974, c. 36, s. 103.

104. For the purposes of the winding-up, the liquidator has all the powers mentioned in section 10 of the Winding-up Act (chapter L-4).

1974, c. 36, s. 104.

105. The liquidator shall first pay the debts of the producers’ board and the costs of winding-up.

After such payments, the balance from the liquidation of the assets shall be distributed among the producers subject to the joint plan during the two years preceding the date when such plan terminated.

The distribution among the producers shall be made in proportion to the amount of the contributions paid by each of such producers to the producers’ board during such two years, unless the general meeting adopts different rules in that respect.

1974, c. 36, s. 105.

106. When the winding-up is completed, the liquidator shall submit for approval to the general meeting or, as the case may be, to the Board a statement showing the manner in which the winding-up was carried out and the result of the winding-up; he shall then hand over to the Board the documents of which he took possession at the time of his appointment.

1974, c. 36, s. 106.

107. No decision of the general meeting under this division shall come into force until approved, with or without amendment, by the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 107.

108. When the winding-up is completed, the Board shall have a notice of the dissolution of the producers’ board published in the Gazette officielle du Québec, and from the date of such publication the board is dissolved.

1974, c. 36, s. 108.

DIVISION XVII SEIZURES, OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

109. The Board, by order, may provide:

(a)  that a marketed product and its container may be seized and detained by any person authorized by the Board to conduct an inspection or inquiry who has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence has been committed, in respect of such product, against this act, a joint plan, the by-laws, an agreement made between a producers’ board and a person engaged in the marketing of a marketed product, an order of the Board or an arbitration decision;

(b)  that a product so seized must be released to its owner as soon as the provisions contemplated in subparagraph a are complied with to the satisfaction of the Board;

(c)  that any person, including the Board, in possession of a product or container so seized is empowered to dispose of it, administer the moneys derived therefrom and dispose of such moneys; and

(d)  the procedure which must be followed to make a seizure, detain the seized product or container, release it or dispose of it.

Every product and its container seized under this section, is seized and detained at the risk and expense of its owner.

1974, c. 36, s. 109.

110. When a product or its container is detained or disposed of, the Board shall immediately notify the owner or the person who had possession of it at the time of seizure.

1974, c. 36, s. 110.

111. No person shall market a marketed product that has been seized and detained, or, where such is the case, its container, or remove or allow removal of such product or its container or remove or break a seal affixed by an authorized person, without the written authorization of the Board.

1974, c. 36, s. 111.

112. The Board may, by order, delegate, in whole or in part, to a producers’ board, the powers conferred upon the Board under sections 109 to 111.

1974, c. 36, s. 112.

113. Every person is guilty of an offence who:

(a)  except as a producer, attempts to hinder the making or carrying out of a joint plan;

(b)  by threat or intimidation, attempts to prevent a producer from taking part in the making or carrying out of a joint plan.

1974, c. 36, s. 113.

114. Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act, a joint plan, a by-law, an agreement made between a producers’ board and persons engaged in the marketing of the marketed product, an order of the Board or arbitration decision is guilty of an offence and is liable, in addition to payment of the costs,

(a)  for a first offence, to a fine of not less than $350 nor more than $1 750 in the case of a natural person, and not less than $700 nor more than $3 500 in the case of a corporation;

(b)  for a subsequent offence within two years, to a fine of not less than $575 nor more than $5 750 in the case of a natural person, and not less than $1 150 nor more than $11 500 in the case of a corporation.

1974, c. 36, s. 114; 1982, c. 41, s. 4; 1986, c. 58, s. 64.

115. Every person who, without a permit, engages in an activity in respect of which the orders made under section 85 require him to be holder of a permit in force issued by the Board is liable in addition to the penalties provided for in section 114, to an additional fine of $25 per day or part of a day during which the offence continues.

Similarly, every person who engages in the production and sale of a marketed product without having been attributed a quota while a by-law to that effect is in force by virtue of section 67, or who engages in the production and sale of a quantity of such product greater than the quota attributed to him, is liable, in addition to the penalties provided for in section 114, to an additional fine of $25 per day or part of a day during which the offence continues.

1974, c. 36, s. 115.

116. Every person who, in contravention of this act, a joint plan, a by-law, an order, an agreement homologated by the Board or an arbitration decision, refuses or neglects to withhold for or remit to a producers’ board contributions of the producers subject to the plan, and every person who buys a marketed product, for a price less than the minimum price or prescribed price, is liable, in addition to the penalty enacted by section 114 and the costs, to a fine equal to the amount that he has so refused or neglected to withhold or remit, or to the difference between the price paid or agreed upon and the minimum price or prescribed price, as the case may be.

The fines imposed under this section are payable to the Board. It shall distribute the amounts collected among the producers who did not receive the equivalent of the minimum price, proportionately to their respective losses or, in the case of contributions, it shall remit them to the producers’ board to which they belong. However, in the case of joint offer for sale of the marketed product, the Board shall pay the amounts collected to the producers’ board entrusted with the implementation of the joint plan so that the board may dispose of them in the manner provided in the by-law of joint offer for sale.

No proceedings may be brought under this section unless a person authorized to bring them has mailed prior notice of at least ten days to the offender describing the offence and enjoining him to discharge his obligations.

Payment of the required amounts within the time fixed in the notice is a bar to penal proceedings.

1974, c. 36, s. 116; 1982, c. 41, s. 5.

116.1. In proceedings brought under section 116 against a person who refuses or neglects to withhold for a producers’ board or remit to it the contributions of producers subject to a joint plan, in order to justify a conviction, it is sufficient to prove that the contribution was not withheld and that the producers’ board did not receive the sums that should have been remitted to it in accordance with section 78.

1982, c. 41, s. 6; 1986, c. 95, s. 200.

117. Every person who aids or abets the commission of an offence, or participates therein is liable to the same penalty as that provided for the person who committed the offence.

1974, c. 36, s. 117.

118. When an offence is committed by a corporation, every director, officer, employee or agent of such corporation, who prescribed or authorized the commission of the offence or consented thereto, is deemed to have participated in the offence and is liable to the same penalty as that provided for a corporation, whether or not the corporation has been prosecuted or found guilty.

1974, c. 36, s. 118.

119. When several persons form a common intention to commit an offence, each of them is guilty of each offence committed by any of them in the carrying out of their intention.

1974, c. 36, s. 119.

120. The penalties provided by this act are imposed under the Summary Convictions Act (chapter P-15) and Part II of the said act applies.

1974, c. 36, s. 120.

121. In any proceeding under this act, the complaint may be lodged and the matter heard and decided in the judicial district where possession of the product has been verified.

1974, c. 36, s. 121.

121.1. The Attorney General, the Board, any producers’ board and any interested person may bring an action in order to exercise any recourse or demand any penalty resulting from this Act, a regulation, an order, a homologated agreement or an arbitration award.

1982, c. 41, s. 7.

DIVISION XVIII FINAL PROVISIONS

122. The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is entrusted with the administration of this act.

1974, c. 36, s. 122; 1979, c. 77, s. 21.

123. (This section ceased to have effect on 17 April 1987).

1982, c. 21, s. 1; U. K., 1982, c. 11, Sch. B, Part I, s. 33.

REPEAL SCHEDULE

In accordance with section 17 of the Act respecting the consolidation of the statutes (chapter R-3), chapter 36 of the statutes of 1974, in force on 31 December 1977, is repealed, except sections 124 to 127, effective from the coming into force of chapter M-35 of the Revised Statutes.