Animal Transport Penalties Updated

Summary#

These final amendments update the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations so they match recent changes to the Health of Animals Regulations about animal transport. The changes let the government issue administrative monetary penalties for the new transport rules and take effect on February 20, 2020.

What it does#

• Aligns the list of named violations in the AMP Regulations with the amended Health of Animals Regulations (mainly Part XII on transport).
• Replaces items 232 to 301 in the schedule of violations and increases the total number of listed violations from 70 to 81.
• Reclassifies many violations so there are fewer “minor” and “serious” items and many more “very serious” items (the item count becomes 14 minor, 34 serious, and 33 very serious).
• Keeps the existing penalty amounts for each classification (minor/serious/very serious) unchanged.
• Extends several timelines: the time to pay a penalty or request a review is changed from 15 days to 30 days in a few places.
• If a review request is sent by fax or other electronic means, a paper copy must be sent by courier or registered mail within 48 hours of the deadline.
• Clarifies that a review by the tribunal will be conducted orally if the person named in the notice asks for an oral review.
• Makes some technical and consequential fixes: minor French wording fixes, changes tied to the Plant Protection Act and the Agricultural Growth Act, and repeals a few obsolete schedule items.

Who's affected#

• People and businesses involved in moving animals: farmers, transport companies and drivers, auction markets, assembly centres, slaughter establishments, and others who load, confine, transport or export/import animals.
• Importers of certain animal products (the schedule includes specific items such as bee feed).
• Enforcement and inspection staff at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), who will use the updated rules when issuing notices of violation.
• Most Canadians will not see any change unless a regulated party breaks the transport rules; the amendments change enforcement tools rather than everyday rules.

Why it matters#

• The amendments let the CFIA use administrative monetary penalties to enforce the newer, clearer animal transport rules introduced earlier. That makes enforcement consistent with the updated animal-welfare standards.
• Because more conduct is listed as a “very serious” violation, some regulator-determined breaches now carry a higher-classification label. That increases the chance of stronger enforcement action when animals are put at serious risk during transport.
• The change from 15 days to 30 days for paying or requesting reviews gives affected parties more time to respond.
• Penalty amounts by classification did not change, so the financial scale tied to each class stays the same — but with more items moved into higher-severity classes, the practical risk of heavier penalties may rise for some operators.