Amendments to the Electricity and Gas Inspection Regulations and the Weights and Measures Regulations were registered in the Canada Gazette, Part II (volume 148, No. 12) on June 4, 2014.
These regulatory amendments are required to implement the Act to Amend the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act and the Weights and Measures Act (also known as the Fairness at the Pumps Act). The amendments will come into force on August 1, 2014. The mandatory inspection frequencies will be phased in over a period of two to three years depending on the sector.
Highlights of the New Law
• Gives the Government the authority to require that measuring devices subject to the Weights and Measures Act be inspected at regular intervals in eight trade sectors (retail petroleum, downstream petroleum, dairy, retail food, fishing, logging, mining as well as grain and field crops) at this initial stage and possibly additional sectors later;
• Gives non-government inspectors the authority to perform mandatory examinations (inspections) on behalf of the Minister, pursuant to the Weights and Measures Act, but enforcement activities will remain with government inspectors;
• Increases court-imposed fines under the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act and the Weights and Measures Act to $10,000 for minor offences, $25,000 for major offences and up to $50,000 for repeat offences, thus providing greater deterrence against measurement inaccuracy and improved consumer protection; and
• Introduces administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) under both the Weights and Measures Act and the Electricity and Gas Inspection Act.
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