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Check-off

ABP service charge refund request instructions

Producers eligible for a refund
The service charge is payable by producers who sell cattle and by producers to feed and slaughter their own cattle. Any service charge paid by or on behalf of a producer is refundable to that producer on request of that producer. A producer may request a refund of all or a portion of the service charge paid.

The refund is only available to Alberta residents selling or feeding and slaughtering cattle in Alberta. When non-Alberta residents sell cattle in Alberta the purchaser or livestock dealer is deducting and remitting the Federal Levy and not the ABP Service Charge. The Federal Levy is collected by ABP on behalf of the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development & Promotion Agency (the National Agency) and is paid to the National Agency for national beef cattle research, marketing and promotion. The National Agency pays a portion of the Federal Levy to the provincial cattle association in the province where the seller resides. When an Alberta resident sells cattle in another province, the provincial cattle association in that province is, in turn, collecting the Federal Levy from the Alberta producer. This Federal Levy is non-refundable.

Information needed to process the refund
A request for a refund of a service charge must contain:

• the producer’s name, mailing address and telephone number,
• the number of cattle in respect of which the service charge is requested to be refunded,
• the amount of the service charge that is requested to be refunded,
• the date of the transactions for which the service charge is requested to be refunded,
• if applicable, the name of the purchaser or dealer who deducted the service charge, and
• any other information required by ABP.

Supporting documents
The request for a refund must be accompanied with such documents as may be required by ABP to prove to the satisfaction of ABP that the service charge was paid to the Commission by the producer, or deducted from the sale proceeds by a purchaser or dealer and not passed on to another producer for payment.

ABP will accept photocopies of invoices and settlement statements showing the deduction of the service charge from the sale proceeds by a purchaser or a livestock dealer. If the producer remitted the service himself, a copy of the cancelled cheque paying the service charge to ABP is required.

A request for a refund must be submitted:

• During the month of July, 2010 in respect of a service charge paid from April 1, 2010 until June 30, 2010;
• Thereafter, during the month of July each year in respect of a service charge paid from January to June of that year;
• During the month of January in a year in respect of a service charge paid during the months of July to December of the previous year.

A producer is not entitled to a refund if the request for a refund of the service charge is not submitted to ABP in the months of July and January, as the case may be, unless ABP decides to accept the request on being satisfied that extenuating circumstances warrant doing so.

Timing of the payment of the refund:

• Refund requests submitted in July will be paid by October 31 of the year in which the request is submitted; and
• Refund requests submitted in January will be paid by April 1 of the year in which the request was submitted.

Submit to the ABP office with attention to the ABP Controller:

• Canada Post or courier - 320, 6715 8th Street NE Calgary, AB T2E 7H7;
• Fax (403) 451-1188; or
• E-mail to refunds@albertabeef.org.

ABP service charge refund request form

Statement of check-off deductions

Value of the service charge to Alberta producers

The check-off dollars collected from producers on the sale of cattle in Alberta is used, on behalf of producers, to further to objects of the ABP Plan Regulation. The overarching role of Alberta Beef Producers, as a marketing commission, is to initiate and carry out projects or programs to commence, stimulate, increase or improve the production and marketing of cattle and cattle products.

To carry out this objective and leverage our check-off dollars, Alberta Beef Producers has entered into an agreement with the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Agency (the National Agency) to support national research, marketing and promotion. The National Agency was established to collect a levy on cattle sold in interprovincial trade and will eventually collect a levy on imported cattle and cattle products.

ABP pays $1 of its $3 service charge to the National Agency. This $1.00 is referred to as the National Check-off. The National Agency retains two cents for operations and allocates the remainder of the $1 to Beef Information Centre (BIC), Canada Beef Export Federation (CBEF) and the Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC).

BIC’s mission is to maximize demand and optimize the value of Canadian beef products in the Canadian and US markets. For information please visit the BIC website www.canadianbeef.info.

CBEF’s mission is to develop and expand international markets outside of Canada and the United States. For information please visit the CBEF website at www.cbef.com.

BCRC’s purpose is to sponsor research and technology development for the benefit of all Canadian beef producers.

For more information please visit the BIC and CBEF websites.

$2 of the $3 service charge is retained by ABP to fund provincial marketing, research and policy development and lobbying and to support the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association. The Alberta Service charge is invested as follows:

CCA maintains a national focus on international trade advocacy and legal challenges. ABP’s membership assessment for the CCA is based upon Alberta’s share of the Canadian beef industry. For information please visit the CCA website at www.cattle.ca.

ABP invests in research and the future. ABP has committed $500,000 to the BCRC Beef Science Cluster program over a four year period commencing in March 2009.

ABP ensures consistent messaging is delivered to producers and the public. The ABP Environment Committee and Animal Health Working Group promote management practices that protect the environment and encourage responsible, humane well-being and health of cattle. The message: We are stewards of the land; we care about our cattle.

The check-off dollars collected from producers on the sale of cattle in Alberta is used, on behalf of producers, to further to objects of the ABP Plan Regulation. The overarching role of Alberta Beef Producers, as a marketing commission, is to initiate and carry out projects or programs to commence, stimulate, increase or improve the production and marketing of cattle and cattle products. To carry out this objective and leverage our check-off dollars, Alberta Beef Producers has entered into an agreement with the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Agency (the National Agency) to support national research, marketing and promotion. The National Agency was established to collect a levy on cattle sold in interprovincial trade and will eventually collect a levy on imported cattle and cattle products.

When cattle are sold in Alberta, either ABP’s service charge or the National Agency’s federal levy, but not both, is payable to Alberta Beef Producers. If cattle are sold by a resident of Alberta, the $3.00 ABP service charge is collected. If cattle are sold by a non-resident (this being an interprovincial sale) the $3.00 Federal Levy is collected.

Everyone who deducts and remits check-off dollars to Alberta Beef Producers is required to report the number of cattle for which the check-off has been deducted by province of origin. The province of origin is the province of residence of the seller of the cattle. Any deduction from cattle owned by Alberta producers is considered ABP service charge and that collected from non-resident producers is considered to be the Federal Levy.

Pursuant to its agreement with the National Agency, Alberta Beef Producers remits $1.00 from every $3.00 service charge collected to the National Agency. This money is used by the National Agency to support the activities of the Beef Information Centre, the Canada Beef Export Federation and the Beef Cattle Research Council. In addition, the provincial cattle associations in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick also contribute $1.00 from their provincial levy as well. Agreements are in the process of being finalized with the other provinces. This $1.00 is part of the “National Check-Off”.

The $3.00 Federal Levy that is collected from non-resident producers is paid to the National Agency. Of that $3.00, $1.00 is retained by the National Agency as the “National Check-Off” and the remaining $2.00 is distributed by the National Agency to the provincial cattle associations based on the amount of the provincial levy imposed in the seller’s province of origin. If the provincial levy in the province of origin is less than $3.00 per head, the difference is paid to Alberta Beef Producers for support of national trade issues. The reverse happens when an Alberta resident producer sells cattle outside of Alberta.

The western provinces have implemented a procedure to track payment of the check-off in other provinces in an effort to avoid a provincial charge and a federal levy being collected on the same sales transaction. With this procedure, for example, a producer transporting cattle from Saskatchewan producer to Alberta, for sale or slaughter, no longer pays a check off in Saskatchewan and another one in Alberta.

As a member of the National Agency, Alberta Beef Producers and each of the other provincial cattle association members, determine how the National Check-Off dollars from their province are allocated by the National Agency to the Beef Information Centre, the Canada Beef Export Federation and the Beef Cattle Research Council.

Your check-off dollars are working hard for you provincially, nationally and internationally.

Random Remitter Audits

We would like to inform producers of ABP’s audit process that helps ensure that Alberta Beef Producers is collecting its service charge and the National Agency’s Federal Levy (commonly known as the Check-Off).

ABP conducts random audits of service charge remitters for the purposes of ensuring that the Alberta Beef Producers Plan Regulation and Cattle Marketing Regulation are being complied with and that the persons responsible for deducting and remitting the service charge to ABP are doing so in accordance with the regulations. This audit is authorized by section 44 of the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act R.S.A. 2000 c. M-4 and sections 7 and 9 of the Cattle Marketing Regulation A.R. 204/98.

At the same time ABP is conducting the audit for the remittance of the service charge. We will be examining the books and records of persons responsible for deducting and remitting the Federal Levy in Alberta pursuant to the Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Levies Order SOR/2005-103. This examination is authorized by section 10 of the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Agency Proclamation SOR/2002-48 and section 34 of the Farm Products Agencies Act R.S.C 1985 c. F-4.

Those who are randomly selected to undergo an audit, with respect to the deduction and remittance the ABP service charge and the Federal Levy, will be contacted by our Check-Off Auditor to arrange a mutually convenient date and time for the audit.

Who pays the service charge and the federal levy? The service charge is payable when a resident producer sells cattle, or when a resident producer slaughters cattle if he is in the business of feeding and slaughtering cattle. The federal levy is payable by non-resident producers when they sell cattle in Alberta.

Who collects the service charge and the federal levy? The service charge and the federal levy is payable by the owner of the livestock and is deducted from the purchase price by the purchaser or the dealer, if a livestock dealer is involved in the transaction. The purchaser or the dealer, as the case may be, is responsible for remitting the funds to ABP.

If you have any questions with respect to the random audits to be conducted by ABP and the Canadian Beef Cattle Research, Market Development and Promotion Agency please do not hesitate to call either Laura Procunier or Adrienne Waller at the ABP Office.