Bill 4, Supporting Agricultural Experts in their Field Act, 2016

Bill 4 2016

An Act to amend the Pesticides Act

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

   1.  Section 1 of the Pesticides Act is amended by adding the following subsection:

Professional pest advisor

   (5)  For the purposes of this Act and the regulations, and despite any regulation made under it,

"professional pest advisor" means one of the following persons:

    1.  A person who is certified as a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) by the American Society of Agronomy and is a member in good standing of the Ontario Certified Crop Advisor Association.

    2.  A person who is registered as a member under the Ontario Institute of Professional Agrologists Act, 2013, if the person's field of practice relates to paragraph 2 or 6 of subsection 3 (2) of that Act.

    3.  A person who holds an authorizing certificate issued by an out-of-province regulatory authority in respect of a field of practice mentioned in paragraph 2.

    4.  A person who, in the opinion of the Director, has qualifications that are equivalent to those of a person mentioned in paragraph 1 or 2. The Director shall have regard to the following criteria:

            i.  Whether the person has a post-secondary degree in crop production or that is related to or relevant to crop production.

           ii.  Whether the person provides evidence to the Director that he or she has experience in crop consulting and the experience is sufficient relative to the amount of education he or she has obtained.

          iii.  Whether the person is active in crop consulting or is competent in crop consulting.

   2.  The Act is amended by adding the following section:

Pest assessments

Consultation re pest assessments

   7.2  (1)  For a 90-day period starting on the day section 1 of the Supporting Agricultural Experts in their Field Act, 2016, comes into force, the Ministry shall accept submissions from any interested professional pest advisor regarding how pest assessments should be conducted based on the Field Crop Protection Guide, 2016-2017, Publication 812, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and available on a website of the Government of Ontario.

Checklist

   (2)  Based on the submissions, the Ministry shall prepare a checklist of the requirements that must be satisfied when conducting pest assessments.

Same

   (3)  The requirements set out in the checklist shall be used for all pest assessments as of the date the Ministry publishes the checklist on its website.

Legislation Act, 2006

   (4)  Part III (Regulations) of the Legislation Act, 2006 does not apply to requirements set out in checklists.

Pest assessments conducted under supervision

   (5)  Where a person who is supervised by a professional pest advisor conducts an inspection of the soil as part of a pest assessment, the presence of the professional pest advisor is not required at the time of the inspection.

Commencement

   3.  This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short title

   4.  The short title of this Act is the Supporting Agricultural Experts in their Field Act, 2016.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Bill makes various amendments to the Pesticides Act.

A definition of "professional pest advisor" is added to the Act. Under the definition, a person would be considered a professional pest advisor if he or she has certain certifications or registrations or if, in the opinion of the Director, the person has the necessary qualifications for the position, having regard to the person's level of education and professional experience.

The Bill adds a requirement for the Ministry to consult with interested professional pest advisors regarding how pest assessments should be conducted. Based on the consultations, the Ministry will prepare a checklist to be followed when conducting pest assessments.

The Bill also provides that when a soil inspection is conducted by a person who is supervised by a professional pest advisor, the professional pest advisor is not required to be present during the inspection.