Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal 1 Stone Road West
Tribunal d’appel de l’agriculture, de l’alimentation et des affaires rurales 1 Stone Road West
Guelph, (Ontario) N1G 4Y2 Tel: (519) 826-3433, Fax: (519) 826-4232 Email: AFRAAT@ontario.ca
Guelph (Ontario) N1G 4Y2 Tél.: (519) 826-3433, Téléc.: (519) 826-4232 Email: AFRAAT@ontario.ca
AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS APPEAL TRIBUNAL
APPEAL:
Turkey Committee of the Ontario Poultry Processors’ Association v Ontario Turkey Producers’ Marketing Board
Turkey Committee of the Ontario Poultry Processors’ Association v OTPMB 1997 ONAFRAAT 31
STATUTE:
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Act
HEARING:
August 8, 1997
DATE OF DECISION:
August 8, 1997
1997-31
NEUTRAL CITATION:
1997 ONAFRAAT 31
Turkey Committee of the Ontario Poultry Processors’ Association v Ontario Turkey Producers’ Marketing Board
IN THE MATTER OF:
THE FARM PRODUCTS MARKETING ACT AND SECTION 16 OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FOOD ACT.
AND IN THE MATTER OF:
An Appeal to the Farm Products Appeal Tribunal by the Turkey Committee of the Ontario Poultry Processors' Association (the AOCP), Suite 310, 250 The Esplanade, Toronto, Ontario from pricing Orders 276 and 277 of the Ontario Turkey Producers' Marketing Board (the Board).
For Pricing Order 276 the Board increased the price of all categories by 5 per kilogram from Pricing Order 275(Revised); the AOCP is requesting a reduction of 7 per kilogram from the price established by pricing order 276.
For Pricing Order 277 the Board increased the price of all categories by 5 per kilogram from Pricing Order 276; the AOCP is requesting a reduction of 14 per kilogram from the price set in Pricing Order 277.
The net effect of the party’s positions is that effective September 1, 1997 the Board wants to have the price increased by 10 per kilogram in all categories from the present price while the AOCP wants to have the price reduced by 4 per kilogram in all categories from the present price(i.e. Pricing Order 275 Revised)
Before:
Mr. James Rickard, Chair; Mrs. Anna Andres, Member; Mr. Murray Cardiff, Member; Mrs. Karen Ratcliffe, Member.
Appearances:
Mr. Robert Shapiro, on behalf of the appellant, the Turkey Committee of the Ontario Poultry Processors' Association.
Mr. Geoffrey Spurr, counsel to the respondent, the Ontario Turkey Producers’ Marketing Board.
Mr. Art Roder, on behalf of the respondent, the Ontario Turkey Producers' Marketing Board.
DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL
This appeal was heard in Guelph, Ontario on August 8, 1997. The Turkey Committee of the Ontario Poultry Processors' Association (the Committee), appealed to the Farm Products Appeal Tribunal (the Tribunal) from the price levels determined for broiler, hen and tom turkeys by the Ontario Turkey Producers’ Marketing Board (the Board) by Pricing Order #276 and 277. As the hearing progressed the Board produced into evidence a table indicating approvals given to processors by the Board to re-grow turkeys for export credits earned by these processors. Mr. Roder, Chair of the Board pointed out that the members of the AOCP were re-growing export credits at a time of the year when the meat would be put into storage and at the same time they tell the Board that the live price paid has to decrease because there is an excess supply of meat and because of the high cost of product storage.
Mr. Robert Shaprio, on behalf of the AOCP, requested an adjournment of the hearing to allow him time to contact the companies affected an to obtain an explanation of this point. Mr Shaprio argued that he was not aware of this issue and was not prepared to respond to it at this time.
In response to questions from the panel Mr. Roder indicated that the decisions on export leases were public documents that are provided by the Board in its minutes. He said that the processors all have access to these decisions.
The Tribunal considered the request for adjournment and decided to end the hearing and direct the parties to conduct a pricing meeting to discuss all of the issues once more to determine if they could arrive at a satisfactory conclusion to this issue.
Mr. Roder objected to the adjournment pointing out that in the past when Mr. Shapiro had brought new information to the hearing the Tribunal had said it wanted all the pertinent information placed before it so an informed decision could be made and then continued with the hearing.
The Tribunal recognises the perception of unfairness in its decision to curtail this hearing; however the Tribunal notes that the issue of re-growing of export credits and the time of that re-growth may be a determining factor in this hearing. In the opinion of the Tribunal this factor is significant enough to warrant reconsideration by the parties before the Tribunal is asked to decide the issue. The Tribunal also notes that the Board has not requested an adjournment at past hearings when new information was presented but, in this case, Mr. Shapiro was immediate in his request.
Having arrived at a decision to direct the parties to conduct a pricing meeting to consider the matter again the Tribunal also directed that pricing order 275 remains in effect.
ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL
After consideration of the evidence presented and the request made the Tribunal orders that:
A pricing meeting be called by the Board, on a date at the discretion of the Board, to determine the minimum price to be paid for live turkey, by category, effective retroactive to July 28, 1997.
Pricing Order 275(Revised) continues to be in full effect until the Board issues its new pricing order and appeals against this decision of the Board, if any, are decided.
Dated at Guelph, Ontario this 8th day of August, 1997.