Short title

Interpretation

"Consigned "

"Consignment'

"Mercantile agent"

"Minister"

"Principal"

"Producer"

"Products"

1927

CHAPTER 64

An Act respecting the Duties of Agents in the Sale of
Products of the Soil and Other Commodities.

[Assented to March 3, 1927.]

IS Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, enacts as follows:

1. This Act may be cited as The Sales on Consignment Act, 1927.

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the expression:

1. "Consigned" means shipped, consigned or entrusted to a mercantile agent for sale, re-consignment or other disposition;

2. "Consignment" means a separate lot or shipment of products consigned;

3. "Mercantile agent" includes a broker or agent to negotiate and make contracts for the sale of products of which he is not entrusted with the possession or control; a factor or agent to sell or dispose of products of which he is entrusted with the possession or control; and a jobber, or person whose normal business is to buy or sell products in wholesale quantities, when handling or disposing of products on commission; and an agent of such broker, factor or jobber;

4. "Minister" means the Minister of Agriculture;

5. "Principal" means a person whether within or without the province, who ships, consigns or entrusts products to a mercantile agent within the province, for sale, re-consignment or other disposition;

6. "Producer" includes farmer, rancher, grower and market gardener;

7. "Products" means:

(a) fruits and vegetables of all kinds and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes berries, grapes, tomatoes, melons and cucumbers;

(b) any agricultural product or farm produce except.
milk, cream and grain, and except live stock when
sold in a public stock yard in Saskatchewan.

the Act

3.—(1) Every person who acts as, or holds himself out Persons within as a mercantile agent shall be deemed prima facie to be a mercantile agent and to come within the provisions of this Act.

(2) Where any person purchases any products from any producer and undertakes to pay the whole or any part of the purchase price out of the resale price, he shall be deemed to be a mercantile agent for the purpose of accounting and making payment to the producer; and for that purpose the producer shall be deemed to be a principal, and the products purchased shall be deemed to be a consignment.

(3) The rendering by any person of an account of sales of products or other document, indicating that the person rendering the same has acted in respect of products as an agent for the person to whom the same is rendered, shall in all proceedings be prima facie evidence against the first mentioned person that he so acted as a mercantile agent.

of Act;

4. This Act shall apply to every transaction between Application a principal and a mercantile agent, notwithstanding contracting any agreement to the contrary; and any provision in a out contract purporting to deprive a principal of the benefit of its provisions, or to relieve a mercantile agent from the duties, obligations or liabilities imposed by it, shall be void.

agent

5. Every mercantile agent, whether acting for a Duties of principal within or without the province, shall, in addition t to all other legal duties, perform the duties prescribed in this Act.

6. (1) Every mercantile agent shall:

(a) give to each consignment an individual number,
and cause the same to be placed upon all
separate packages in the consignment and all
documents and entries relating thereto in such
a manner as to identify the same;

(b) keep such books of account as will fully and
truly exhibit and explain his transactions and
financial position, including a book or books
containing entries from day to day in sufficient
detail of all products received, and of all moneys
received and disbursed and statements of
annual and other stock-takings;

Duty to make and keep records

Duty to report condition of products

Duty to re

port monthly

(c) make and keep such original or duplicate. original receipts, invoices, vouchers, credit notes, account sales and other records as will truly explain and account for the disposition of each. consignment;

(d) keep a consignment record book, in which shall be entered the name and address of the principal, 'the nature, description and quantity of each consignment and particulars of each sale or other disposition.

(2) The books and records referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall be kept in legible characters and figures.

(3) For a period of six years after final report to his principal in respect of any consignment every mercantile agent shall keep at his usual place of business or at some other convenient place in the same municipality the books and records referred to in subsection (1) of this section.

(4) The books and records required by this section to be kept shall, as against the mercantile agent, be prima facie evidence of the facts and transactions therein recorded, set out or indicated.

7. (1) If any consignment arrives in a damaged or deteriorated condition it shall be the duty of the mercantile agent forthwith:

(a) to notify the principal of the fact, giving particulars of the quantities damaged or in a deteriorated condition, the apparent reduction in market value, and the apparent cause of the damage or deterioration; and

(b) in the case of carlot consignments to notify the nearest inspector of the Dominion Department of Agriculture, giving the information required by clause (a).

(2) In the case of less than carlot consignments this section shall be deemed to have been complied with if the information required by clause (a) of subsection (1) is given by an account of sales rendered within two days. after the consignment is received.

(3) In every case in which the provisions of this section have not been complied with, it shall as against the mercantile agent be presumed prima facie that on the arrival of the consignment it was not in a damaged or deteriorated condition.

8. If on the last day of any month a portion of any with respect to consignment, received prior to the first day of that month, remains unsold or undisposed of, the mercantile agent

unsold con

signments

shall within five days thereafter render to his principal an account in writing showing the then disposition of the products in the consignment, the amounts received therefor, and the quantities and condition of the different products on hand and undisposed of. Such account shall be rendered monthly while any products remain on hand or undisposed of.

account

9.-(1) Every mercantile agent shall within ten days Duty to after the sale or other final disposition of any consignment separately, accurately and fully account in writing to his principal for and with respect to the consignment. account shall include sufficient particulars of all sales made and of all losses, rebates, allowances, expenses, disbursements and deductions, the rates and amounts of commission charged and retained, and the amounts due and remitted to the principal.

(2) No fee, commission, remuneration or profit and no loss, rebate, allowance, expenses, disbursement or other deduction not disclosed in writing to the principal shall be allowed to or be retainable by any mercantile agent; and the amount of any fee, commission, remuneration, profit, loss, rebate, allowance, expense, disbursement, or other deduction not so disclosed may be recovered by the principal as moneys had and received by the agent to the use of the principal.

information

10. Every mercantile agent shall, within five days Duty to give after a written request by his principal, furnish in writing , such information and particulars not already furnished in writing to the principal regarding the consignment and the condition and disposition thereof, and the amounts received therefor as the principal may require.

ceived are trust

11. (1) All moneys realised from the sale or other Moneys redisposition of the products of his principal shall in the funds hands of every mercantile agent be trust funds, and the principal shall be deemed to be a cestui que trust with the right to demand an accounting and payment, and to follow the moneys.

(2) Every mercantile agent shall keep the moneys realised from the sale or other disposition of the products of his principal apart from his own moneys, and shall, as soon as they are received, pay over the same or an equivalent amount to his principal or deposit the same or an equivalent amount in a trust account in a chartered bank; and, except as hereinafter provided, a mercantile agent shall not make use of or apply the moneys so realised or deposited or any portion thereof to any purpose other than payment to or on behalf of his principal.

Payment

Mercantile agent not entitled to remuneration where noncompliance

Duty of mercantile agent not to purchase without disclosure

(3) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, every mercantile agent may apply the moneys realised from the sale or other disposition of any consignment in payment of any commission or remuneration to which he may be lawfully entitled in respect of the consignment, and in payment of any disbursements or expenses which he may be lawfully entitled to charge to his principal in respect of the consignment.

12. Every mercantile agent by whom moneys are payable to a principal in respect of a consignment shall remit the same to or to the order of the principal not later than ten days after the said moneys are received by the said mercantile agent.

13. No mercantile agent shall be entitled to have or retain any fee, commission, remuneration or profit unless he has substantially complied with the provisions of sections 6 to 12 inclusive, and any fee, commission, remuneration or profit obtained or retained where there has not been such compliance may be recovered by the principal as moneys had and received by the mercantile agent to the use of the principal.

14.-(1) No mercantile agent shall purchase any consigned products without the prior consent of the principal, given after full and clear disclosure by the mercantile agent to the principal of all material circumstances.

(2) The onus of establishing such disclosure and the consent of the principal shall be upon the mercantile agent.

(3) Where any mercantile agent has purchased consigned products without complying with the provisions of this section, any profit made by him shall belong to and may be recovered by the principal; but any loss shall be borne by the mercantile agent.

(4) Every mercantile agent who purchases any consigned products shall within ten days thereafter render to the principal an account in writing, stating clearly that the mercantile agent has purchased for his own account, and indicating precisely and in detail the goods so purchased, the prices paid therefor and the amounts due and owing to the principal in respect thereof.

(5) Nothing in this section shall affect the validity of any sale or other disposition of any consigned products for valuable consideration made by a mercantile agent to any person acting in good faith.