Proposed amendments to Regulation 123/04: Apples — Plan and Regulation 125/04: Apples Marketing under the Farm Products Marketing Act

Following a request of the Ontario Apple Growers (OAG), the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (Commission) is proposing amendments to:

  • Regulation 123/04: Apples — Plan, which would:
    • change the definition of a producer that removes the current requirement for a producer to be a beneficial owner of property on which apple trees are growing
    • permit producers to designate individuals to vote or be elected or appointed as a board member on their behalf
    • introduce a limit to the number of years a producer could serve as a member of the board before having a break in service
    • remove the term limits for chairs of the board
  • Regulation 125/04: Apples — Marketing, which would:
    • Replace the Fresh Apple Advisory Committee and the Juice Apple Advisory Committee (AC) with 1 apple AC that would cover fresh, juice and processing apples
    • Remove the requirement that the AC meet annually
    • include provisions for replacing an AC member unable to act in their role

The Commission amends regulations periodically to help regulated marketing boards and sectors respond to changes in the marketplace and to better support the entire industry value chain.

If approved, the changes would expand the eligibility of who could be a member of the OAG and in turn, potentially bring in new perspectives around the board table on how the apple sector grows and evolves moving forward.

The proposed amendments would also better align the apple regulations with other regulations under the Farm Products Marketing Act.

The proposed amendments will be posted on Ontario's Regulatory Registry for a 45-day public comment period.

Proposed amendments to Regulation 440: Vegetables for Processing — Marketing and Regulation 441: Vegetables for Processing — Plan and revoking spent regulations under the Farm Products Marketing Act

The Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission (Commission) is proposing to amend Regulation 440: Vegetables for Processing – Marketing and Regulation 441: Vegetables for Processing — Plan.

If made, the proposed amendments to Regulation 440 would:

  • Streamline the annual negotiation process between producers and buyers of vegetables by:
    • Providing flexibility for tomato/carrot processors and their associated producers to determine who should oversee the vote or votes at annual meetings prior to negotiations.
    • Providing for joint negotiating agencies if more than one tomato or carrot processor and their associated producers are in favour of establishing a single negotiating agency.
    • Modernizing the appointment process to negotiating agencies, which may include:
      • Removing the ability of processors to appoint producer members to negotiating agencies.
      • Revisiting the number of producer members on negotiating agencies to provide for a more balanced representation.
  • Streamline the dispute resolution process by:
    • Making the conciliator appointment process consistent for all regulated commodities under the regulation.
    • Simplifying the parameters for calling a meeting where producers determine whether to accept a processor’s final offer or proceed to arbitration.
    • Providing clarity around what constitutes the processor’s final offer.
    • Providing negotiating agencies with the first opportunity to appoint an arbitrator within seven business days. If no arbitrator is appointed, the Commission may appoint one.

The Commission would also revoke spent provisions in the regulation.

If made, the proposed amendments to Regulation 441 would modernize the framework governing Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers’ board director elections and board leadership by:

  • Providing for in-person voting in board elections (in addition to current voting methods: mail and electronic voting).
  • Removing parameters governing the nomination process, ballot counting, and election records. (These parameters would be set in a board policy/by-law instead.)
  • Allowing Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers’ Vice-Chair(s) to act as Chair in cases of unforeseen absence of the Commission appointed Chair.

The Commission is also proposing to revoke the following regulations as they are no longer applicable:

  • O. Reg. 59/17: Vegetables for Processing — Negotiating Agencies and Specified Negotiation Deadlines in 2017; and
  • O. Reg. 22/19: Vegetables for Processing — Extending 2019 Negotiation Deadlines.

The proposed amendments will be posted on Ontario's Regulatory Registry for a 45-day public comment period.