1992 Legislative Session: 1st Session, 35th Parliament
FIRST READING


The following electronic version is for informational purposes only.
The printed version remains the official version.


MINISTER OF HEALTH AND MINISTER
RESPONSIBLE FOR SENIORS

BILL 72 -- 1992

TOBACCO PRODUCT AMENDMENT ACT, 1992

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

1 The Tobacco Product Act, R.S.B.C. 1979, c. 403, is amended by repealing the title and substituting the following:

TOBACCO SALES ACT .

2 Sections 2 and 3 are repealed and the following substituted:

Prohibitions

2 (1) A person must not deal in, sell, offer for sale, distribute, advertise or promote the use of tobacco

(a) except in compliance with this Act and the regulations made under this Act,

(b) in a manner that allows a consumer or purchaser of tobacco to be deceived or misled concerning its character, toxicity, composition, merit or safety, or

(c) in a manner that interferes with initiatives by government to prevent injury to the health of a consumer or purchaser of tobacco or to restrain the use and consumption of tobacco.

(2) If a regulation under section 4 forbids the sale or offer for sale of tobacco to purchasers who have not attained the age specified in the regulation, a vendor selling or offering to sell tobacco must take all reasonable measures to ensure that

(a) purchasers have attained this specified age, including requiring purchasers to produce valid photo identification that establishes age if it is reasonable to question whether the specified age has been attained, and

(b) tobacco is not sold or offered for sale from a vending machine if access to the vending machine is not controlled and supervised to prevent persons who have not attained this specified age from using the vending machine.

(3) A person must not sell or offer for sale cigarettes from an opened package.

Tobacco vendor licences

3 (1) A person must not sell or offer for sale tobacco, except as authorized by a valid tobacco vendor licence issued under regulations made under this Act.

(2) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations respecting tobacco vendor licensing, including

(a) the establishment of different categories of vendors for the purposes of regulations under this section,

(b) the form that a person must use and the procedure that a person must follow to apply for a tobacco vendor licence,

(c) the form of a tobacco vendor licence and the terms and conditions that may be included in one, and

(d) the fees that a person must pay to apply for a tobacco vendor licence or for the licence itself.

(3) Different regulations may be made under this section for different categories of vendors.

(4) A tobacco vendor licence may be suspended or cancelled if this Act, a regulation under this Act or a term or condition of the licence is not complied with by the person holding the tobacco vendor licence or by a person acting on behalf of the person holding the tobacco vendor licence.

Appeals

3.1 (1) If a person wants to dispute

(a) the inclusion of a term or condition in a tobacco vendor licence,

(b) a refusal to be granted a tobacco vendor licence, or

(c) the suspension or cancellation of a tobacco vendor licence,

the person may, within 60 days of receiving notice of the matter under dispute, give a notice of appeal to the minister.

(2) The notice of appeal under subsection (1) must be in writing addressed to the minister at Victoria setting out the reasons for the appeal and all relevant facts on which the appeal is based.

(3) On receipt of the notice of appeal under subsection (1), the minister must consider the matter, grant or refuse the appeal and promptly notify the appellant in writing of this decision.

(4) Section 11 of the Tobacco Tax Act applies to a decision of the minister under subsection (3) of this Act.

3 Section 4 is amended by adding the following paragraphs:

(d.1) specifying the content, form and manner of presentation of a warning that must be displayed with tobacco at the time the tobacco is offered for sale or is sold to a purchaser;

(d.2) specifying the minimum number of cigarettes that must be in a package if the package is to be offered for sale or sold to a purchaser;

(d.3) forbidding the sale or offer for sale of tobacco to purchasers who have not attained an age specified in the regulations; .

Commencement

4 This Act comes into force by regulation of the Lieutenant Governor in Council.


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