Food and Drugs Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-27)

Interim Orders

Marginal note:Interim orders

• 30.1 (1) The Minister may make an interim order that contains any provision that may be contained in a regulation made under this Act if the Minister believes that immediate action is required to deal with a significant risk, direct or indirect, to health, safety or the environment.

• Marginal note:Cessation of effect

  (2) An interim order has effect from the time that it is made but ceases to have effect on the earliest of

  • (a) 14 days after it is made, unless it is approved by the Governor in Council,

  • (b) the day on which it is repealed,

  • (c) the day on which a regulation made under this Act, that has the same effect as the interim order, comes into force, and

  • (d) one year after the interim order is made or any shorter period that may be specified in the interim order.

• Marginal note:Contravention of unpublished order

  (3) No person shall be convicted of an offence consisting of a contravention of an interim order that, at the time of the alleged contravention, had not been published in the Canada Gazette unless it is proved that, at the time of the alleged contravention, the person had been notified of the interim order or reasonable steps had been taken to bring the purport of the interim order to the notice of those persons likely to be affected by it.

• Marginal note:Exemption from Statutory Instruments Act

  (4) An interim order

  • (a) is exempt from the application of sections 3, 5 and 11 of the Statutory Instruments Act; and

  • (b) shall be published in the Canada Gazette within 23 days after it is made.

• Marginal note:Deeming

  (5) For the purpose of any provision of this Act other than this section, any reference to regulations made under this Act is deemed to include interim orders, and any reference to a regulation made under a specified provision of this Act is deemed to include a reference to the portion of an interim order containing any provision that may be contained in a regulation made under the specified provision.

• Marginal note:Tabling of order

  (6) A copy of each interim order must be tabled in each House of Parliament within 15 days after it is made.

• Marginal note:House not sitting

  (7) In order to comply with subsection (6), the interim order may be sent to the Clerk of the House if the House is not sitting.

Marketing Authorizations

Marginal note:Marketing authorization — representation

• 30.2 (1) Subject to regulations made under paragraph 30(1)(r), the Minister may issue a marketing authorization that exempts — if the conditions, if any, to which the marketing authorization is subject are met — an advertisement, or a representation on a label, with respect to a food from the application, in whole or in part, of subsection 3(1) or (2) or any provision of the regulations specified in the marketing authorization.

• Marginal note:Condition

  (2) The marketing authorization may be subject to any condition that the Minister considers appropriate.

Marginal note:Marketing authorization — food

• 30.3 (1) Subject to regulations made under paragraph 30(1)(r), the Minister may issue a marketing authorization that exempts — if the conditions to which the marketing authorization is subject are met — a food from the application, in whole or in part, of paragraph 4(1)(a) or (d) or section 6 or 6.1 or any provision of the regulations specified in the marketing authorization.

• Marginal note:Condition — amount

  (2) The marketing authorization may be subject to any condition relating to the amount of any substance that may or must be in or on the food, including

  • (a) the maximum residue limit of an agricultural chemical and its components or derivatives, singly or in any combination;

  • (b) the maximum residue limit of a veterinary drug and its metabolites, singly or in any combination;

  • (c) the maximum level of use for a food additive; and

  • (d) the minimum or maximum level, or both, of a vitamin, a mineral nutrient or an amino acid.

• Marginal note:Other conditions

  (3) The marketing authorization may be subject to any other condition that the Minister considers appropriate.

Marginal note:Classes

30.4 A marketing authorization may establish classes and distinguish among those classes.

Incorporation by Reference

Marginal note:Incorporation by reference

• 30.5 (1) A regulation made under this Act with respect to a food or therapeutic product and a marketing authorization may incorporate by reference any document, regardless of its source, either as it exists on a particular date or as it is amended from time to time.

• Marginal note:Accessibility of incorporated documents

  (2) The Minister shall ensure that any document that is incorporated by reference in the regulation or marketing authorization is accessible.

• Marginal note:Defence

  (3) A person is not liable to be found guilty of an offence for any contravention in respect of which a document that is incorporated by reference in the regulation or marketing authorization is relevant unless, at the time of the alleged contravention, the document was accessible as required by subsection (2) or it was otherwise accessible to the person.

• Marginal note:No registration or publication

  (4) For greater certainty, a document that is incorporated by reference in the regulation or marketing authorization is not required to be transmitted for registration or published in the Canada Gazette by reason only that it is incorporated by reference.

Marginal note:Existing power not limited

30.6 For greater certainty, an express power in this Act to incorporate a document by reference does not limit the power that otherwise exists to incorporate a document by reference in a regulation made under this Act.

Offences and Punishment

Marginal note:Contravention of Act or regulations

31 Subject to sections 31.1, 31.2 and 31.4, every person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act or of the regulations is guilty of an offence and liable

• (a) on summary conviction for a first offence to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or to both and, for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both; and

• (b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

Marginal note:Offences relating to food

31.1 Every person who contravenes any provision of this Act or the regulations, as it relates to food, is guilty of an offence and liable

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both; or

• (b) on conviction by indictment, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or to both.

Marginal note:Offences relating to therapeutic products

31.2 Subject to section 31.4, every person who contravenes any provision of this Act or the regulations, as it relates to a therapeutic product, or an order made under any of sections 21.1 to 21.3 is guilty of an offence and liable

• (a) on conviction by indictment, to a fine not exceeding $5,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both; and

• (b) on summary conviction, for a first offence, to a fine not exceeding $250,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to both and, for a subsequent offence, to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 18 months or to both.