Disagreements, reviews and appeals

Filing a Request for Review or for an Appeal

Penalties under the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act

This redress process is used if the following applies:

• you have received a notice of violation stating that you are being charged a penalty under the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act; and
• you believe that the CBSA has misunderstood the facts or has applied the law incorrectly.

You have the right to request a review of the violation issued against you before the penalty is paid.

• Paying the penalty and admitting to violation
• Request a review
• Review process
• External appeals

Paying the penalty and admitting to violation

If you agree with the allegation stated on the notice of violation and choose to pay the fine within 15 days of the date stated on the notice, the fine will be reduced by 50 percent. However, you will be unable to request a review.

If you have already paid the penalty from the notice of violation that was issued against you, you are deemed to have committed the violation and you cannot request a review.

Request a review

You have two options:

• Option 1: Request a review by the Minister of Public Safety
• Option 2: Request a review by the Review Tribunal (Agriculture and Agri-food)

You may only request one of the review methods above. If you choose to request a review by the Review Tribunal (Agriculture and Agri-food) first, there is no further review available to you from the CBSA.

Option 1

You can request a review by the Minister of Public Safety within 30 days of the date stated on the notice of violation by sending a request in writing to the following address:

Recourse Directorate
Canada Border Services Agency
Ottawa ON  K1A 0L8
Fax: 613-960-5129

Option 2

You can request a review by the Review Tribunal (Agriculture and Agri-food) within 30 days of the date stated on the notice of violation.

Please note that there is no provision under the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act to extend the time limits to file a request for a review.

Review process

The CBSA's Recourse Directorate conducts a full and impartial review of the action taken. The review process is basically a hearing by mail.

Within 30 days of filing your dispute notice, you will receive a letter containing the name and contact details of the adjudicator responsible for your file. The adjudicator will review your request and the reports of the officer who issued the original violation. You will then receive a notice explaining why the violation was issued and you will also be given the issuing officer's reports. At this time, you will have the opportunity to make further submissions before the decision is made.

The adjudicator will consider all the evidence and arguments provided and the relevant law and policy to make a recommendation for decision. A senior CBSA officer, who has the authority to make a decision on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety, will review this recommendation and the file before issuing a decision.

A letter will be mailed to you once the decision has been made that will confirm or deny the violation, explain the reasons for the decision and explain your avenues of appeal. This decision is final and neither the Minister of Public Safety nor CBSA officials have the authority to act further in the matter.

External appeals

If you disagree with the decision made, you have the right to file an appeal to the Review Tribunal (Agriculture and Agri-food). Please refer to the decision letter for information regarding time limits for external appeals.