Regulations Repealing the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations: SOR/2024-20
Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 158, Number 5
Registration
SOR/2024-20 February 7, 2024
HEALTH OF ANIMALS ACT
The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food makes the annexed Regulations Repealing the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations under subsection 2(2) of the Health of Animals Act footnote a.
Ottawa, February 1, 2024
Lawrence MacAulay
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Regulations Repealing the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations
Repeal
1 The Hatchery Exclusion Regulations footnote 1 are repealed.
Coming into Force
2 These Regulations come into force on the day on which they are registered.
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Issues
The Regulations Amending the Health of Animals Regulations (Hatchery) [referred to as the modernized regulations for hatcheries] were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on November 9, 2022. These amendments consolidated requirements relating to hatcheries and supply flocks that previously existed under three separate regulations: the Hatchery Regulations; the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations; and, sections 79 to 79.2 and Schedule VI of the Health of Animals Regulations.
The Hatchery Exclusion Regulations set out criteria for the exclusion of certain buildings and premises from the definition of “hatchery” contained in the Health of Animals Act. The modernized regulations for hatcheries now contains new criteria that apply to a hatchery for licensing. A hatchery is excluded from licensing requirements if the criteria do not apply. As a result, the need for the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations no longer exists and they should be repealed.
The modernized regulations for hatcheries in the Canada Gazette, Part II, indicated that there will be a 12-month transition period to provide time for industry to comply with the new requirements. Further, it stated that the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations will occur after the transition period ends. With the end of the transition period on October 19, 2023, the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations constitutes a necessary administrative step for finalizing the consolidation of the regulations for hatcheries and supply flocks.
Background
The modernized regulations for hatcheries were published in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on November 9, 2022. These regulations consolidated the requirements relating to hatcheries and supply flocks that previously existed under three separate regulations: the Hatchery Regulations; the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations; and sections 79 to 79.2 and Schedule VI of the Health of Animals Regulations. The updated regulations repealed or amended previous regulatory requirements and consolidated them into a new part (Part VIII.1) of the Health of Animal Regulations. When the modernized regulations for hatcheries were published, there was a 12-month transition period to provide industry with additional time to comply with new requirements. This 12-month transition period started when the updated regulations came into force on October 20, 2022, and ended on October 19, 2023. Since the Canada Gazette, Part II, publication states that the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations will occur after the transition period ends, the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations should follow as soon after October 19, 2023, as possible.
The Health of Animals Act, under subsection 2(2), authorizes the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to make regulations excluding places from the definition of “hatchery.” Consequently, authority to repeal the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations sits with the Minister.
Objective
The repeal of the ministerial Hatchery Exclusion Regulations will finalize the consolidation of the regulations for hatcheries and supply flocks that began with the modernized regulations for hatcheries.
Description
The repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations constitutes a necessary administrative step in finalizing the consolidation of the regulations for hatcheries and supply flocks.
The Hatchery Exclusion Regulations set out criteria for the exclusion of certain buildings and premises from the definition of “hatchery” under the Health of Animals Act. However, the modernized regulations for hatcheries, made in October 2022, now contains new criteria to determine whether licensing requirements apply to a hatchery. Specifically, section 72.1 in the modernized regulations for hatcheries establishes that a hatchery meets licensing requirements if the hatchery
- receives eggs produced by a supply flock;
- incubates eggs for the production of commercial poultry; and
- has a minimum setting capacity of 1 000 eggs.
A hatchery will automatically be excluded from licensing requirements if these criteria do not apply and, therefore, associated requirements, such as the development of preventive control plans, will not be required. As a result, the need for the exclusions previously set out in the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations no longer exists and they should be repealed.
Regulatory development
Consultation
The repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations formed part of consultations with hatchery and supply flock operators when engaging stakeholders about the modernized regulations for hatcheries. Between April 2013 and March 2020, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) engaged hatchery and supply flock operators, as well as national poultry production organizations, on the proposed amendments and repeal of impacted regulations. The CFIA prepublished proposed amendments in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on March 14, 2020, and also published a “What We Heard” report on January 28, 2021, summarizing feedback received. The CFIA continued engaging stakeholders to seek feedback and provide any required clarification of the proposed amendments prior to the final publication of the regulatory amendments. Lastly, the final publication of the modernized regulations for hatcheries in the Canada Gazette, Part II, on November 9, 2022, confirmed CFIA’s commitment to repeal the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations.
Stakeholders supported the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations as part of the modernized regulations for hatcheries. As the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations represents an administrative step in the consolidation of the hatchery and supply flock regulations, no further consultations are needed.
Regulatory analysis
Benefits and costs
As an administrative exercise, the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations has no administrative impact (no cost and no benefit) for the stakeholders or for the government. However, it was noted in the final publication of the modernized regulations for hatcheries in the Canada Gazette, Part II, that six hatcheries experienced two separate administrative benefits because they are no longer required to be licensed by the CFIA.
The administrative benefits for these six hatcheries were included in the analysis for the modernized regulations for hatcheries, but the one-for-one rule impacts were not included because they occur only after the 12-month transition period. The transition period ended on October 19, 2023, and the repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations provides the opportunity to report the one-for-one rule impacts, which are described below.
One-for-one rule
The one-for-one rule, under the Red Tape Reduction Act, counts the total regulatory titles and any of their associated administrative costs for all regulations that the Government of Canada, including the CFIA, imposes on businesses. This repeal results in one title out and a reduction in administrative costs captured by the one-for-one rule.
One-for-one rule — Title out
The repeal of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations results in one regulatory title out. These regulations are no longer required because the consolidated modernized regulations for hatcheries include requirements that satisfy the purposes of the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations.
One-for-one rule — Administrative cost relief
The ending of the 12-month transition period of the modernized regulations for hatcheries allows reporting of the one-for-one rule impacts.
The six hatcheries impacted perform activities which no longer require licensing. Three in-barn hatcheries receive their embryonated chicken eggs from permitted hatcheries which are licensed. The remaining three hatcheries support the vaccine industry and do not produce eggs that enter the human food chain. The impacted hatcheries are detailed further in Table 1. These six hatcheries experience administrative relief associated with being licensed by the CFIA, as they are no longer required to perform the licensing activities, detailed in Table 2.
| Impacted business | Number of impacted businesses | Administrative burden relief from regulatory amendments | Business size | Reason licensing requirement does not apply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In-barn hatchery | 3 | Yes | Small | Receive 18-day old embryonated chicken eggs from permitted hatcheries and not supply flocks |
| Vaccine quality control testing | 1 | Yes | Medium/large | Final product disposed of as biohazard, and does not enter human food chain |
| Vaccine hatchery | 1 | Yes | Small | Products do not enter human food supply chain, as eggs are incubated for pharmaceutical companies |
| Vaccine hatchery | 1 | Yes | Medium/large | Products do not enter human food supply chain, as eggs are incubated for pharmaceutical companies |
| Impact category | Description | Administrative burden (cost or relief) | Activity costs (experienced as relief) table 2 note * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salmonella Enteritidis testing record keeping | Collecting and retaining data (e.g. these businesses would not need to keep records of Salmonella testing) | Relief | 2 hours annually, at an employee wage rate of $16.46 (plus 25% overhead) in 2012 dollars. |
| Administrative savings associated with accompanying inspectors for annual and quarterly inspections | Enforcement, audits, and inspection (e.g. these business would no longer be inspected) | Relief | 13 hours annually, at a manager wage rate of $37.01 (plus 25% overhead) in 2012 dollars. |
Table 2 note(s)
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Industry surveys, consultation with impacted stakeholders, reasonable assumptions based on available Statistics Canada wage data, and the CFIA subject matter experts form the basis for estimated costing information. The costs for these six businesses, regardless of business size, remain the same.
The estimated net annualized administrative one-for-one rule reduction in 2012 dollars totals $1,873, or $312 per impacted business, summarized in Table 3.
| Impact category | Monetized relief* | Administrative burden or relief |
|---|---|---|
| Annualized administrative costs | $1,873 | Relief |
| Annualized administrative costs per business | $312 | Relief |
Implementation, compliance and enforcement, and service standards
As an administrative step to finalize the modernized regulations for hatcheries, information about repealing the Hatchery Exclusion Regulations will be incorporated into communication products announcing the end of the transition period and enforcement date of the modernized regulations for hatcheries.
Contact
Dr. Boubacar Sidibe
National Manager
Animal Health Directorate
Policy and Programs Branch
Email: AnimalHealth.Regs@inspection.gc.ca