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Vol. 142, No. 26 — December 24, 2008
Registration
SOR/2008-314 December 12, 2008
CANADA GRAIN ACT
Regulations Amending the Canada Grain Regulations
The Canadian Grain Commission, pursuant to subsection 116(1) (see footnote a) of the Canada Grain Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Canada Grain Regulations.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, November 19, 2008
ELWIN HERMANSON
Chief Commissioner
JIM SMOLIK
Assistant Chief Commissioner
CAMERON DAHL
Commissioner
P.C. 2008-1906 December 12, 2008
Her Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, pursuant to subsection 116(1) (see footnote c) of the Canada Grain Act (see footnote d), hereby approves the making of the annexed Regulations Amending the Canada Grain Regulations by the Canadian Grain Commission.
REGULATIONS AMENDING THE CANADA GRAIN REGULATIONS
AMENDMENTS
1. Sections 23 to 25 of the Canada Grain Regulations (see footnote 1) are replaced by the following:
23. Every month, each licensed grain dealer, primary elevator operator and process elevator operator shall submit to the Commission, on the appropriate form supplied by the Commission or in an electronic format acceptable to it, a report respecting the licensee’s outstanding obligations for the payment of money or the delivery of grain to holders of elevator receipts, grain receipts and cash purchase tickets and the security amount available to meet those obligations at the end of the preceding month.
LICENSED GRAIN DEALER REPORTS
24. Every month, each licensed grain dealer shall submit to the Commission, on a form supplied by the Commission or in an electronic format acceptable to it, a report respecting the grain dealer’s operations during the preceding month.
PROCESS ELEVATOR REPORTS
25. Every week, each process elevator licensee shall submit to the Commission, in an electronic format acceptable to the Commission, a report respecting the licensee’s operations during the preceding week.
2. Paragraphs 26(a) and (b) of the Regulations are replaced by the following:
(a) every week, in an electronic format acceptable to the Commission, a report respecting the licensee’s operations during the preceding week; and
(b) no later than October 15 in each crop year, on the appropriate form supplied by the Commission or in an electronic format acceptable to it, a report respecting the licensee’s operations during the preceding crop year for each primary elevator operated by the licensee.
3. Section 27 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
27. Every day, the operator of a transfer elevator shall submit to the Commission, in an electronic format acceptable to the Commission, a report respecting the elevator’s operations during the preceding day.
4. Section 34 of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
34. For the purposes of sections 35 and 36, on the delivery of grain to a licensed primary elevator, a portion of at least 1 kg from a sample of the grain that is considered by the elevator operator and the person delivering the grain to be representative of the grain shall be taken from each load and retained at the elevator.
5. Paragraph 35(1)(a) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
(a) taking a representative portion of at least 750 g from the sample referred to in section 34;
6. The portion of subsection 36(1) of the Regulations before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:
36. (1) If the operator of a licensed primary elevator and a person delivering grain to the elevator do not agree on the grade of the grain or the dockage in the grain, and an interim primary elevator receipt is issued, the operator, in the presence of the person delivering the grain, shall take a representative portion of at least 750 g from the sample referred to in section 34 and shall
7. Paragraph 37(1)(b) of the Regulations is replaced by the following:
(b) identify the container with the name of the owner of the grain and with the special bin primary elevator receipt number; and
8. The English version of Form 15 of Schedule 4 to the Regulations is replaced by the Form 15 set out in the schedule to these Regulations.
COMING INTO FORCE
9. These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.
SCHEDULE
(Section 8)
FORM 15
(Section 57)
SPECIAL BIN AGREEMENT
TO:
In accordance with section 57 of the Canada Grain Regulations, we agree to provide you with__________________tonnes wheat (quantity)
equivalent space in our___________________________for the (location and identity of elevator) purpose of special binning
_______________________________________________ (type of grain and variety, if applicable, or grain product).
The grain or grain product stored pursuant to this Agreement will be stored in:
Bin Number(s) Capacity
Should the grain or grain product represented by this Agreement be transferred, for any reason, to any other bin(s), we agree to notify you and the Canadian Grain Commission of the new bin number(s), in writing, and to amend this Agreement accordingly.
This Agreement becomes effective on ______________ and will terminate on _______________ if all grain or grain products stored in the above-mentioned bin(s) are removed on or before that day; otherwise, this Agreement remains in effect until the day on which all the grain or grain product is removed.
All charges assessed will be according to the applicable tariff rates filed by us with the Canadian Grain Commission.
ACCEPTED BY:
_____________________ _____________________
DATED: _____________________
REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Issue
The amendments to the Canada Grain Regulations (the Regulations) include several low impact amendments. One amendment is to require primary and process elevator statistical reporting via the Canadian Grain Commission’s (the Commission) online Web-based system instead of allowing submissions using traditional paper forms. This amendment is being made to satisfy the requirements of Industry Canada’s Paperwork Burden Reduction Initiative (PBRI). The other amendments are housekeeping in nature. For example, regulations are being amended or updated to make corrections and improve readability and clarity. Other regulations are being amended to reflect current practices.
Objectives
The Commission derives its authority from the Canada Grain Act (the Act). The Commission’s mandate as set out in the Act is to, in the interests of grain producers, establish and maintain standards of quality for Canadian grain and regulate grain handling in Canada, to ensure a dependable commodity for domestic and export markets.
The Canada Grain Regulations are made to carry out the Commission’s objectives under the Act. Most regulations made by the Commission are approved by the Governor-in-Council, and are updated annually, or as necessary to ensure the Commission has consistent policies that meet the needs of producers and industry in marketing Canadian grain domestically and abroad.
The changes being implemented are low impact in nature. The changes explained below do not increase the regulatory burden on the grain industry or the public.
Description
PBRI a mendment
The Act requires that all elevators and grain dealers, as defined by the statute, be either licensed or exempted from licensing. Furthermore, the Act allows the Commission, with the approval of the Governor-in-Council, to make regulations prescribing the reports to be made by a licensee, the system of transmission or communication of those reports, and the times the reports are to be made.
Section 25 and paragraph 26(a) of the Regulations require process and primary elevator licensees to submit information on a weekly basis respecting their operations during the preceding week. The Commission recently updated its statistical data collection methods and now offers a primary/process elevator weekly reporting Web application whereby licensed companies can report grain handling data using a Web-based filing process. The Web application format allows the Commission to automatically calculate and pre-fill numerous data fields that were previously calculated and provided by licensees.
Section 25 and paragraph 26(a) of the Regulations are being amended to require process and primary elevator licensees to report weekly operations using the Commission’s online Web application reporting system. These amendments will reflect the elimination of the paper form previously supplied by the Commission for weekly primary and process elevator statistical reporting purposes.
Amendments to section 25 and paragraph 26(a) of the Regulations are being made to satisfy the requirements of Industry Canada’s PBRI. The PBRI, which is applicable to key federal departments and agencies, requires the Commission to reduce administrative requirements and information obligations set out in the consolidated statutes and the associated regulations, policies, guidelines and forms by a minimum of 20% by November 2008.
The Commission currently compiles the information provided by primary, process, terminal and transfer elevator licensees and publishes a statistical report, Grain Statistics Weekly. The Commission has been publishing this report on a weekly basis since 1969 when it took over publication from the Dominion Bureau of Statistics (now Statistics Canada). The report was published by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics under various titles on a weekly basis starting in 1921. This report is made available without charge on the Commission’s Web site.
The amendments will not affect the frequency or type of information required by the Commission. In addition, the amendments will not affect the format or frequency of information published in the Commission’s Grain Statistics Weekly report. The statistical information will continue to be available free of charge on the Commission’s Web site.
Other a mendments
Update:
Section 23, section 24, and paragraph 26(b) are being amended to reflect the current practice by the Commission of providing the option of electronic reporting. Paper forms are still available to licensees that wish to report in this manner.
Section 27 is being amended to reflect the current practice used by transfer elevator licensees of submitting daily operating reports electronically. Electronic reporting is the only reporting method used by transfer elevator licensees.
Consistency of language:
Sections 23, 24 and 27 are being amended to replace “accepted by” with “acceptable to” to ensure consistency of language with section 25 and paragraphs 26(a) and 26(b).
Correction:
Paragraph 37(1)(b) is being amended to replace “interim” with “special bin.”
Form 15 is being amended to correct the spelling error “proivde” to “provide” in the first line.
Technical:
Section 34 and subsection 36(1) are being amended to indicate that the sample size should be “at least” a certain amount as opposed to an exact amount.
Paragraph 35(1)(a) is being amended to change “500 g” to “at least 750 g” to make the amount consistent with the Commission’s Work Instruction — Official Grain Grading Guide.
Rationale
PBRI a mendment
The PBRI required that the Commission establish a baseline count of the administrative requirements and information obligations stemming from statutes and associated regulations, policies and forms, with which businesses must comply. Using guidelines provided by Industry Canada, the Commission determined that the weekly primary and process elevator statistical reporting obligations account for approximately 90% of the Commission’s baseline count. As a result, the Commission determined that regulatory and non-regulatory amendments in other areas would not yield the required 20% reduction in administrative requirements and/or information obligations set by government.
The status quo was rejected because the PBRI requires a 20% reduction in administrative requirements and information obligations. Eliminating the requirement for primary and process elevator reporting was rejected because the data collected and published by the Commission is the only reliable source of Canadian grain handling information available. While the majority of information collected and published is not used internally by the Commission, it is used extensively by grain producers, industry and other government organizations.
Another option considered was to reduce primary and process elevator reporting from weekly to bi-weekly. A consequence of bi-weekly reporting would be a reduction in the publication frequency of primary and process elevator statistics in the Commission’s Grain Statistics Weekly report. This report has been published under various titles on a weekly basis since 1921. The Commission prepared a consultation document with respect to bi-weekly reporting and the corresponding reduction in publication frequency of data in the Grain Statistics Weekly report. In general, submissions from stakeholders were opposed to and/or concerned about reducing the publication frequency of the Grain Statistics Weekly report from weekly to bi-weekly. The Commission did not receive any submissions in support of this proposal. Given the negative feedback received, an amendment reducing the frequency of reporting, and therefore, the frequency of data publication, was not practical.
The final alternative considered was to recount the inventory of administrative requirements and information obligations on the basis of the online reporting system currently in use by the majority of licensees. The Commission’s baseline inventory of administrative requirements and information obligations is based on statistical reporting using paper forms as opposed to the online reporting forms. The Web-based forms simplify and streamline the data filing process and result in a 27% reduction in the baseline count due to pre-filling of fields by the Commission and the elimination of duplicate information requirements. The PBRI directive from Industry Canada requires that if the number of data fields vary depending on the method of submission (e.g., online versus manual), the count must be based on the method with the most number of fields. Therefore, the Commission must eliminate the paper forms for weekly primary and process elevator reporting for the reduction in the count to be considered valid.
O ther a mendments
No alternatives were considered for the other housekeeping amendments as they are routine in nature.
Benefits and c osts
PBRI a mendment
The intent of the amendments to section 25 and paragraph 26(a) is to lessen the statistical reporting burden of primary and process elevator licensees and reduce their costs. Eliminating the paper forms is not anticipated to result in an increase in costs to the five process elevator companies that are not currently using the online reporting system. The costs to the Commission are not anticipated to change as development and implementation of the Commission’s online Web-based reporting system has already taken place.
Other a mendments
The housekeeping changes will assist the industry in referencing and complying with the Regulations. There are no additional costs associated with these amendments.
Consultation
PBRI a mendment
In February 2008, the Commission provided notice to the grain industry and producers of its intention to decrease the data collection and publication frequency of the Grain Statistics Weekly from a weekly basis (52 publications per year) to a bi-weekly basis (26 publications per year). The Commission issued a document titled Reduction in the Publication Frequency of the CGC’s Grain Statistics Weekly. This document was mailed or emailed directly to 114 stakeholders, including licensed primary and process elevator companies, previous Grain Statistics Weekly subscribers, and known Grain Statistics Weekly users. As well, the document was posted on the Commission’s Web site.
Stakeholders include licensed primary and process elevator companies, producers, federal and provincial government departments, industry associations, producer organizations, market analysts and libraries. The release of the consultation document commenced a three-week comment period, during which stakeholders were invited to communicate their views or concerns to the Commission.
A total of 19 responses were received. Submissions from 17 stakeholders were strongly opposed to and/or concerned about reducing the publication frequency of the Grain Statistics Weekly report from weekly to bi-weekly. The Commission received a clear message that the Grain Statistics Weekly publication should continue to be published on a weekly basis. Stakeholders stated that the data provided in the Grain Statistics Weekly is used as soon as it becomes available as the main source of information to calculate the supply and demand for the grains listed. Bi-weekly reporting and the corresponding reduction in frequency of the Grain Statistics Weekly publication would reduce available information of how stocks move through the system and would negatively impact the price determination process.
Responses from five licensed primary/process elevator companies expressed opposition to the proposal of bi-weekly reporting despite a reduction in their own reporting requirements under the proposal. While these companies applaud the intent of the PBRI, they expressed the opinion that, in this case, there is sufficient value in the product (the Grain Statistics Weekly) to warrant the extra weekly reporting by licensees. Given the negative feedback received, the Commission determined that this proposal was not practical.
The final option considered was to eliminate the paper forms that the Commission’s inventory of administrative requirements and information obligations was originally based on. Currently, 43 licensed companies take advantage of the Commission’s weekly reporting Web application. Not only does the Web application form include pre-calculated and pre-filled data fields, the three primary and process elevator reporting forms (Forms 3, 4, and 5) have been merged together into one Web application. Licensees have reported that the Web-based reporting system is easy to use and results in a time and cost savings. While the reductions are slightly less under this option (27.8% rather than 36.1% under bi-weekly reporting), the reductions still exceed the 20% objective of the PBRI.
Other a mendments
Given that the other amendments do not impose additional or different regulatory obligations, consultations are not necessary. No opposition to these amendments is anticipated.
Implementation , e nforcement and service standards
The changes will have no impact on compliance and enforcement responsibilities. No new enforcement mechanisms are being implemented in respect of these changes.
Contact
Catherine Jaworski
Manager, Policy, Planning and Producer Protection
Canadian Grain Commission
600 — 303 Main Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3C 3G8
Telephone: 204-984-7268
Fax: 204-983-4654
Email: catherine.jaworski@grainscanada.gc.ca
Footnote a
S.C. 2001, c. 4, s. 89
Footnote b
R.S., c. G-10
Footnote c
S.C. 2001, c. 4, s. 89
Footnote d
R.S., c. G-10
Footnote 1
C.R.C., c. 889
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