5. Where any act or omission can be proceeded with as a violation or as an offence, the Minister may commence proceedings in respect of that act or omission as a violation or recommend that it be proceeded with as an offence, but proceeding with it as a violation precludes proceeding with it as an offence, and proceeding with it as an offence precludes proceeding with it as a violation.

6. The Minister may

• (a) designate persons, or classes of persons, who are authorized to issue notices of violation; and

• (b) establish, in respect of each violation, a short-form description to be used in notices of violation.

• 7. (1) Every person who

  • (a) contravenes any provision of an agri-food Act or of a regulation made under an agri-food Act,

  • (b) contravenes any order made by the Minister under the Plant Protection Act, or

  • (c) refuses or neglects to perform any duty imposed by or under the Plant Protection Act or the Health of Animals Act

  the contravention of which, or the refusal or neglect of which, is designated to be a violation by a regulation made under paragraph 4(1)(a) commits a violation and is liable to a warning or to a penalty in accordance with this Act.

• (2) Where a person designated under paragraph 6(a) has reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed a violation, the designated person may issue, and shall cause to be served on the person, a notice of violation that names the person, identifies the violation and

  • (a) contains a warning that the person has committed a violation; or

  • (b) sets out

    • (i) the penalty, established in accordance with the regulations, for the violation that the person is liable to pay,

    • (ii) particulars concerning the time for paying and the manner of paying the penalty, and

    • (iii) subject to the regulations, a lesser amount that may be paid in complete satisfaction of the penalty if paid within the time and manner specified in the notice.

• (3) A notice of violation must clearly summarize, in plain language, the rights and obligations under this Act of the person on whom it is served, including the right to have the facts of the violation reviewed by the Minister or the Tribunal, and the procedure for requesting such a review.

• 8. (1) Where a notice of violation contains a warning, the person named in the notice may, in the prescribed time and manner, request a review of the facts of the violation by the Minister or the Tribunal.

• (2) Where a person who is served with a notice of violation that contains a warning does not request a review under subsection (1) in the prescribed time and manner, the person is deemed to have committed the violation identified in the notice of violation.