Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (S.C. 1992, c. 52)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 In this Act,

animal

animal means any specimen, whether living or dead, of any species of animal that is listed as “fauna” in an appendix to the Convention, and includes any egg, sperm, tissue culture or embryo of any such animal; (animal)

Convention

Convention means the Convention on international trade in endangered species of wild fauna and flora, made on March 3, 1973 in Washington, D.C., United States and ratified by Canada on April 10, 1975, as amended from time to time, to the extent that the amendment is binding on Canada; (Convention)

conveyance

conveyance means any vehicle, aircraft or water-borne craft or any other contrivance that is used to move persons or goods; (moyen de transport)

distribute

distribute includes sell; (distribuer)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of the Environment; (ministre)

officer

officer means a person, or a person who belongs to a class of persons, designated pursuant to section 12; (agent)

plant

plant means any specimen, whether living or dead, of any species of plant that is listed as “flora” in an appendix to the Convention, and includes any seed, spore, pollen or tissue culture of any such plant; (végétal)

prescribed

prescribed means prescribed by regulation; (Version anglaise seulement)

transport

transport includes send. (acheminer)

Binding on Her Majesty

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

3 This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

Purpose

Marginal note:Purpose

4 The purpose of this Act is to protect certain species of animals and plants, particularly by implementing the Convention and regulating international and interprovincial trade in animals and plants.

Agreements

Marginal note:Federal-provincial agreements

5 The Minister may enter into an agreement with the government of any province to provide for the cooperative management and administration of this Act and to avoid conflict between, and duplication in, federal and provincial regulatory activity.

Prohibitions

Marginal note:Importation

• 6 (1) No person shall import into Canada any animal or plant that was taken, or any animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant, that was possessed, distributed or transported in contravention of any law of any foreign state.

• Marginal note:Importation and exportation

  (2) Subject to the regulations, no person shall, except under and in accordance with a permit issued pursuant to subsection 10(1), import into Canada or export from Canada any animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant.

• Marginal note:Interprovincial transport

  (3) Subject to the regulations, no person shall, except under and in accordance with a permit issued pursuant to subsection 10(1), transport from one province to another province any animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant.

Marginal note:Transport requiring provincial authorization

• 7 (1) Where the transportation out of a province of an animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant, is permitted by the province only if the person who transports it holds a permit issued by a competent authority in that province, no person shall, except under and in accordance with such a permit, transport any animal, plant or part or derivative of an animal or plant from that province to another province.

• Marginal note:Provincial prohibitions

  (2) No person shall transport from a province to another province any animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant, where the animal or plant was taken, or the animal, plant, part or derivative was possessed, distributed or transported, in contravention of any provincial Act or regulation.

Marginal note:Possession

8 Subject to the regulations, no person shall knowingly possess an animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant,

• (a) that has been imported or transported in contravention of this Act;

• (b) for the purpose of transporting it from one province to another province in contravention of this Act or exporting it from Canada in contravention of this Act; or

• (c) for the purpose of distributing or offering to distribute it if the animal or plant, or the animal or plant from which the part or derivative comes, is listed in Appendix I to the Convention.

Marginal note:Documents

9 Every person who imports into Canada, exports from Canada or transports from one province to another province an animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant, shall keep in Canada, in the prescribed manner and for the prescribed period, any documents that are required to be kept by the regulations.

Federal Permits

Marginal note:Issuance

• 10 (1) The Minister may, on application and on such terms and conditions as the Minister thinks fit, issue a permit authorizing the importation, exportation or interprovincial transportation of an animal or plant, or any part or derivative of an animal or plant.

• Marginal note:Application for permit

  (2) An application shall be made in the form and on the terms and conditions that the Minister requires, contain all the information that the Minister requires and be accompanied by the prescribed fees.

• Marginal note:Revocation or suspension

  (3) The Minister may, after giving a person who holds a permit an opportunity to make representations, revoke or suspend the permit for contravention of any term or condition of the permit.

• Marginal note:Delegation by Minister

  (4) The Minister may delegate to any minister of the Crown in right of Canada or of a province or to any person who is employed by the Government of Canada, the government of a province or any other government in Canada any power conferred on the Minister under this section relating to permits. The minister or other person to whom the power is delegated may then exercise the power subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister specifies.

Marginal note:Misrepresentation

11 No person shall knowingly furnish any false or misleading information or make any misrepresentation with respect to any matter in this Act.

Administration

Marginal note:Officers and analysts

• 12 (1) The Minister may designate such persons or classes of persons as the Minister considers necessary to act as officers or analysts for the purposes of this Act or any provision of this Act, and if the person to be designated is an employee, or the class of persons to be designated consists of employees, of the government of a province, the Minister shall only designate that person or class with the agreement of that government.

• Marginal note:Powers of peace officers

  (2) Officers designated under subsection (1) have, for the purposes of this Act, all the powers of a peace officer, but the Minister may limit, in any manner the Minister considers appropriate, the powers that certain officers may exercise for the purposes of this Act and, where those powers are so limited, they shall be specified in the certificate referred to in subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Certificate to be shown

  (3) On entering any place under this Act, an officer or analyst shall, on request, show the person in charge or the occupant of the place a certificate, in the form approved by the Minister, certifying that the officer or analyst, as the case may be, has been designated under this section.

• Marginal note:Obstruction

  (4) No person shall knowingly make any false or misleading statement either orally or in writing to, or obstruct or hinder, an officer or analyst who is carrying out duties or functions under this Act or the regulations.

• Marginal note:Immunity

  (5) Officers and analysts are not personally liable for anything they do or omit to do in good faith under this Act.

Marginal note:Documents admissible in evidence

• 12.1 (1) A document made, given or issued under this Act and appearing to be signed by an analyst is admissible in evidence and, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, is proof of the statements contained in the document without proof of the signature or official character of the person appearing to have signed the document.

• Marginal note:Attendance of analyst

  (2) The party against whom the document is produced may, with leave of the court, require the attendance of the analyst who signed it.

• Marginal note:Notice

  (3) No document referred to in subsection (1) may be received in evidence unless the party intending to produce it has given to the party against whom it is intended to be produced reasonable notice of that intention together with a copy of the document.

Marginal note:Detention

13 Any thing that has been imported into or is about to be exported from Canada, or has been transported, or is about to be transported, from a province to another province, may be detained by an officer until the officer is satisfied that the thing has been dealt with in accordance with this Act and the regulations.

Marginal note:Inspections

• 14 (1) For the purpose of ensuring compliance with this Act and the regulations, an officer may at any reasonable time enter and inspect any place in which the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, there is any thing to which this Act applies, or there are any documents relating to the administration of this Act or the regulations, and the officer may

  • (a) open or cause to be opened any container that the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, contains such a thing;

  • (b) inspect any such thing and take samples free of charge;

  • (c) require any person to produce for inspection or copying, in whole or in part, any document that the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, contains any information relevant to the administration of this Act or the regulations; and

  • (d) seize any thing by means of or in relation to which the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, this Act or the regulations have been contravened or that the officer believes, on reasonable grounds, will afford evidence of a contravention of this Act or the regulations.

• Marginal note:Analysts

  (1.1) An analyst may, for the purposes of this Act, accompany an officer who is carrying out an inspection of a place under this section, and the analyst may, when accompanying the officer, enter the place and exercise any of the powers described in paragraphs (1)(a) and (b).

• Marginal note:Conveyance

  (2) For the purposes of carrying out the inspection, an officer may stop a conveyance or direct that it be moved by the route and in the manner that the officer may specify, to a place specified by the officer where the inspection can be carried out.

• Marginal note:Dwelling-place

  (3) An officer may not enter a dwelling-place except with the consent of the occupant or under the authority of a warrant issued under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Warrant

  (4) Where on ex parte application a justice of the peace is satisfied by information on oath that

  • (a) the conditions for entry described in subsection (1) exist in relation to a dwelling-place,

  • (b) entry to the dwelling-place is necessary for any purpose in relation to the administration of this Act or the regulations, and

  • (c) entry to the dwelling-place has been refused or there are reasonable grounds for believing that entry will be refused,

  the justice may issue a warrant authorizing an officer to enter the dwelling-place subject to any conditions that may be specified in the warrant.

Marginal note:Right of passage

14.1 While carrying out duties or functions under this Act, officers and analysts, and any persons accompanying them, may enter on and pass through or over private property without being liable for doing so and without any person having the right to object to that use of the property.

Marginal note:Assistance

14.2 The owner or person in charge of a place being inspected under section 14, and every person found in the place, shall

• (a) give the officer or analyst all reasonable assistance to enable the officer or analyst to carry out their duties or functions under this Act; and

• (b) provide the officer or analyst with any information with respect to the administration of this Act that he or she may reasonably require.

Marginal note:Search without warrant

15 For the purpose of ensuring compliance with this Act and the regulations, an officer may exercise the powers of search and seizure provided for in section 487 of the Criminal Code without a warrant if the conditions for obtaining a warrant exist but, by reason of exigent circumstances, it would not be feasible to obtain a warrant.

Marginal note:Custody of things seized

• 16 (1) An officer who detains or seizes a thing under section 13, 14 or 15 or under a warrant issued under the Criminal Code may retain custody of the thing or transfer custody of it to such person as the officer may designate.

• Marginal note:Perishable things

  (2) Where a thing referred to in subsection (1) is perishable, the officer may dispose of it or destroy it and any proceeds realized from its disposition shall be paid to the lawful owner of the thing unless proceedings under this Act are instituted within ninety days after the detention or seizure.

Marginal note:Abandonment

17 The owner, importer or exporter of any thing detained or seized under this Act may abandon the thing to Her Majesty in right of Canada.

Marginal note:Notice to remove

• 18 (1) Where an officer believes, on reasonable grounds, that any thing is being or has been imported into Canada in contravention of this Act or the regulations, the officer may, whether or not the thing is detained or seized, require, by delivering a notice in the prescribed form and manner, that it be removed from Canada in accordance with the regulations.

• Marginal note:Deadline for removal

  (2) Where a notice to remove a thing is delivered, the removal shall be carried out within the period specified in the notice or, if no such period is specified in the notice, within ninety days after its delivery.

Marginal note:Forfeiture

• 19 (1) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act, the convicting court may, in addition to any punishment imposed, order that any thing detained or seized, or any proceeds realized from its disposition, be forfeited to Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Forfeiture on consent

  (2) Where the owner of a thing detained or seized under this Act consents to its forfeiture, it is thereupon forfeited to Her Majesty.

• Marginal note:Automatic forfeiture

  (3) Where a thing is detained or seized under this Act, it, or the proceeds realized from its disposition, is forfeited to Her Majesty

  • (a) in the case of a thing that has been detained under section 13, if the thing has not been removed within the period prescribed by the regulations;

  • (b) in the case of a thing that has been seized, if ownership of the thing cannot be ascertained within thirty days after the seizure; and

  • (c) in the case of a thing that is the subject of a notice under section 18, if the thing has not been removed from Canada in compliance with that section.

• Marginal note:Return of thing where no forfeiture ordered

  (4) Where the convicting court does not order the forfeiture of a detained or seized thing under subsection (1), the thing, or the proceeds realized from its disposition, shall be returned to the lawful owner of the thing or the person in whose possession the thing was at the time of the detention or seizure.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (5) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act, any thing seized or any proceeds realized from its disposition, may be retained until the fine is paid or the thing may be sold under execution in satisfaction of the fine and the proceeds applied, in whole or in part, in payment of the fine.