Bill 59 explained in plain English
Organic Products Act, 2018
Ontario legislature bill summary, status, timeline, sponsor, votes, and official sources.
At a glance
Official Legislative Assembly of Ontario snapshot for 41st Parliament, 3rd Session. Representative vote breakdowns appear when the Assembly publishes an Ayes and Nays page for the bill.
Our plain-language take, written for civic education.
Source: By PoliticalData.ca
The Organic Products Act, 2018, regulates the labelling and certification of organic products in Ontario to ensure compliance with the Act.
Bill 59, the Organic Products Act, 2018, establishes rules for labelling and certifying organic products in Ontario. It prohibits the sale or labelling of products as 'organic' unless they have been certified under the Act. The Act also mandates the creation of a public register of certified organic products. It outlines inspection powers, information sharing protocols, and penalties for non-compliance. The Act allows for regulations to be made regarding fees, certification standards, and other related matters. The Act will come into force six months after receiving Royal Assent.
- Prohibits marketing or labelling a product as "organic" unless it has been certified as organic according to the Act.
- Requires the Minister to establish and maintain a public register of all certified organic products.
- Grants inspectors the power to enter and inspect places and vehicles, examine products, take samples, and review documents.
- Allows for the seizure and detention of products or things that are believed to be evidence of an offence under the Act.
- Establishes a system for administrative penalties for contravening the Act or its regulations.
- Authorizes the Minister to make regulations concerning various aspects of organic product certification, fees, and enforcement.
- Makes contravening the Act or its regulations an offence, with penalties for individuals and corporations.
- Producers and sellers of products marketed as organic.
- Consumers of organic products.
- Certification bodies for organic products.
- Inspectors appointed under the Act.
- The Minister responsible for the administration of the Act.
- Corporations and their directors and officers involved with organic products.
- Individuals and corporations that contravene the Act.
- The right to market and label products as "organic" is conditional upon certification under the Act.
- Producers and sellers have the obligation to ensure their products are certified before marketing them as organic.
- Inspectors have the right to enter places, inspect products, and demand documents.
- Individuals and corporations have the obligation not to obstruct inspectors or provide false information.
- The Minister has the power to appoint inspectors and make regulations.
- The Act comes into force six months after the day it receives Royal Assent.
- Regulations may be made to govern fees for services related to organic products, including inspection, sampling, testing, analysis, storage, removal, disposal, forfeiture, seizure, or detention.
- Administrative penalties may be imposed to prevent persons from deriving economic benefit from contravening the Act.
- Individuals convicted of an offence are liable to a fine of up to $20,000 for a first offence and up to $30,000 for subsequent offences, and/or up to six months imprisonment.
- Corporations convicted of an offence are liable to a fine of up to $50,000 for a first offence and up to $75,000 for subsequent offences.
- Directors and officers of corporations can be held liable for offences if they authorized, permitted, or acquiesced in the offence.
- Administrative penalties may be imposed by a Registrar for contraventions, with the amount determined by regulations.
- Failure to pay an administrative penalty can result in the order being filed with the Superior Court of Justice for enforcement.
- The specific terms or products that will be designated as 'organic' by regulation are not detailed in the Act.
- The specific criteria and procedures for certification bodies and organic certification are to be prescribed by regulation.
- The exact amount and manner of administrative penalties are to be determined by the Registrar in accordance with regulations.
- The bill does not specify who the Minister will be or which Ministry will administer the Act.
- Details regarding the 'prescribed rate' of interest for proceeds from the sale of perishable products are not provided in the bill text.
This is the new Act that establishes the framework for regulating organic products in Ontario, including certification, labelling, inspections, and offences.
Source: Explanatory Note, Section 23
This Act is referenced to define 'personal information' that may be collected and disclosed under the Organic Products Act, 2018.
Source: Section 12 (1)
This Act is referenced as the source for search warrants that inspectors may obtain to enter dwellings.
Source: Section 8 (1)
This Act is referenced for the enforcement of administrative penalty orders.
Source: Section 19 (2)
Generated using AI from official bill text. Not legal advice. It is written by PoliticalData.ca for civic education, automatically checked and spot-reviewed before publishing.
Official textProcess Snapshot
Vote Summary
This bill is still active. We only show vote counts after the legislature publishes a recorded division.
No published representative vote breakdown
This bill is still moving through the process. When a recorded division is published, representative positions can be listed here.
Official sources
Status, sponsor, votes, and timeline on this page are drawn from these official legislative sources and public records. Each summary above is attributed to its own source.
How this data is sourced