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S.M. 1987-88, c. 15

An Act to amend The Milk Prices Review Act

(Assented to July 17, 1987)

HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba, enacts as follows:

Sec. 1 rep. & sub.

1

Section 1 of The Milk Prices Review Act being chapter M130 of the Continuing Consolidation of the Statutes of Manitoba is repealed and the following section is substituted therefor:

Definitions.

1

In this Act,

"butterfat differential" means the value in cents of each 1/lOth of a kilogram of butterfat above or below 3.6 kilograms per hectolitre of milk; ("indice différentiel de matières grasses")

"commission" means the Manitoba Milk Prices Review Commission; ("Commission")

"consumer" means a person who receives or purchases or offers to receive or purchase fluid milk or dairy products for his own use or for the use of his family or household or any use other than resale or manufacture directly or indirectly; ("consommateur")

"cost of production formula" means a formula established pursuant to this Act by which the price of milk sold by a producer or the producer board for use as fluid milk is determined; ("formule du coût de production")

"dairy plant" means a place where milk or cream is received for the purpose of being pasteurized, standardized, or otherwise processed; ("usine laitière")

"dairy products" means milk, cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, sterile milk, milk powder, butter, cheese, ice cream, ice milk, dried whey, condensed whey, casein, sodium caseinate, yogurt, or any other substance made wholly or mainly from milk; ("produits laitiers")

"distributor" means a person who distributes or sells, or offers to distribute or sell, fluid milk or dairy products for consumption, either on his premises or elsewhere, or for processing, manufacture or resale; ("distributeur")

"fluid milk" means milk, including milk lawfully reconstituted, wholly or in part from milk powder, with a butterfat content not exceeding 8% of the weight thereof, whether or not it is processed by the addition thereto or the subtraction therefrom of any substance, and sold by a manufacturer, processor, distributor, retailer, jobber or a producer for ultimate consumption as milk; ("lait liquide")

"jobber" means a person who purchases fluid milk or dairy products from a manufacturer or processor and sells fluid milk or dairy products to retailers, or to consumers by home delivery; ("intermédiaire")

"Manitoba Council" means The Manitoba Natural Products Marketing Council constituted under The Natural Products Marketing Act; ("Conseil manitobain")

"manufacturer or processor" means any person engaged in the business of processing milk or dairy products or using milk or dairy products in manufacturing or processing within the province; ("fabricant ou préparateur")

"manufacturing or processing" means changing the nature, form or condition of milk or dairy products and includes packaging; ("fabrication ou transformation")

"milk" means the normal secretion obtained from the mammary gland of a cow; ("lait")

"minister" means the member of the Executive Council charged by the Lieutenant Governor in Council with the administration of this Act; ("ministre")

"producer" means a person who produces milk from his own herd or stock, or from a herd or stock managed by him, and supplies or sells that milk; ("producteur")

"producer board" means The Manitoba Milk Producers' Marketing Board established under The Natural Products Marketing Act; ("Office des producteurs")

"retailer" means a person who sells fluid milk or dairy products on a retail basis to consumers. ("détaillant")

Subsec. 3(1) rep. & sub.

2

Subsection 3(1) of the Act is repealed and the following subsection is substituted therefor:

Duties and powers of the commission.

3(1)

The commission has such powers and duties as are specified in this Act and is responsible for the administration of this Act and the regulations and for those purposes

(a) shall for the purpose of enforcing its orders and the regulations, gather information relative to the costs of the production, processing and distribution of fluid milk;

(b) may require persons who supply, distribute, process, keep for sale or sell fluid milk or dairy products to provide the commission with complete information relating to the cost of producing, transporting, storing, processing, packaging and marketing of fluid milk or dairy products including the allocation of direct and overhead costs to fluid milk and other products;

(c) during regular hours may inspect the books and premises relating to the supply, distribution, processing of Sale of fluid milk or dairy products of any person referred to in clause (b);

(d) shall monitor and hear complaints relating to the prices of fluid milk at any level;

(e) shall make such inquiries and conduct such investigations as may be required by the minister relative to this Act; and

(f) may investigate and study systems of distribution of fluid milk and dairy products and the conditions of the dairy industry in Manitoba or elsewhere and report thereon to the minister.

Subsec. 3(5) rep. and sub.

3

Subsection 3(5) of the Act is repealed and the following subsection is substituted therefor:

Monitoring and fixing of prices.

3(5)

The commission shall monitor prices of fluid milk charged by distributors, jobbers, manufacturers, processors and retailers and may by order do any one or more of the following things:

(a) establish the minimum or maximum price or both minimum and maximum prices at which fluid milk shall be sold by distributors, jobbers, manufacturers, processors or retailers;

(b) establish types of fluid milk for the purpose of regulating the selling price thereof;

(c) establish the areas in the province within which the prices established under clause (a) shall apply.

Subsec. 3(6) am.

4

Subsection 3(6) of the Act is amended by striking out clause (a) thereof and substituting therefor the following clause:

(a) the cost of the milk to the distributor, manufacturer, jobber, retailer or processor as determined by the formula established under subsection (2), the cost of processing, handling, packaging or distributing the milk, the allocation of direct and overhead costs to fluid milk and other dairy products and the cost of retailing; and

Subsec. 4(4) rep. & sub.

5

Subsection 4(4) of the Act is repealed and the following subsection is substituted therefor:

Information on costs and profits.

4(4)

Any person intending to make a presentation to the Manitoba Council with respect to minimum or maximum prices of fluid milk, or both, may prior to the hearing of the appeal request the commission for information on the costs and profits of producers, distributors, manufacturers, jobbers, retailers or processors, and the commission shall, within three days of receiving the request, provide such information as it may have in its possession in consolidated statistical form without identifying the costs or profits of any of the parties by name.

Sec. 6 rep. and sub.

6

Section 6 of the Act is repealed and the following section is substituted therefor:

Prohibitions.

6(1)

No person shall sell fluid milk at prices and in areas contrary to the prices established by the commission under subsection 3(5).

Discounts, rebates, etc. prohibited

6(2)

No person shall, except with the prior written authorization of the commission,

(a) give to a consumer in a transaction involving fluid milk a discount, rebate or premium in either money or kind, or use or adopt in such transaction any method, plan, system or device, which results or is likely to result in

(i) an advantage or gain of any kind, direct or indirect, for or to the consumer, or

(ii) an alteration of the price of the fluid milk paid by the consumer; or

(b) sell fluid milk in combination with any other commodity in such manner that the price of the fluid milk is merged with the price of the other commodity; or

(c) make any gift or donation of fluid milk to anyone in the course of and as a part of the person's commercial operation.

Subsec. 8(1) rep. and sub.

7

Subsection 8(1) of the Act is repealed and the following subsection is substituted therefor:

Injunction.

8(1)

Where it is made to appear from material filed or evidence adduced that an offence against this Act or any order or regulation made under this Act has been or is being committed by a person, the Court of Queen's Bench or any judge thereof, may upon the application of the commission, make an order prohibiting the person from acting in contravention of the Act or the regulations, whether or not any penalty has been imposed for the contravention; and the court on application by any person may vary or discharge the order.

Subsec. 9(1) rep. and sub.

8

Subsection 9(1) of the Act is repealed and the following subsection is substituted therefor:

Penalty.

9(1)

Every person who violates any provision of this Act or the regulations or any order made under this Act is guilty of an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $500. or more than $5, 000.

Cl. 10(1)(a) rep. & sub.

9

Clause 10(1)(a) of the Act is repealed and the following clause is substituted therefor:

(a) prescribing the records, books, and accounts to be kept by the manufacturers or processors, and persons who supply, distribute, and keep for sale or sell fluid milk or dairy products and requiring those persons to furnish to the commission such information as the commission may require in respect of any part of their operations, in such form as the commission may require.

Commencement of Act.

10

This Act comes into force on a day fixed by proclamation.