May 9, 2008

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food expects to present its recommendations early next month for improvements to Canada's food labelling regulations. 

Under Canada's existing food labelling regulations a product may be labelled "Product of Canada" if a minimum of 51 percent of the cost of taking it to retail is incurred in Canada.

Yesterday the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food completed an exhaustive series of public hearings to identify concerns and explore options. 

Committee chair James Bezan says, in many cases, food products processed and packaged in Canada qualify as Product of Canada even though the entire contents of the package may have come from offshore creating the impression among consumers that they are being misled and among farmers that they are facing unfair competition.