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Improvements to Canada’s food labelling regulations expected
By Farmscape Radio
Current food labelling regulations state that 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. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food plans to make recommendations early next month to improve these regulations.
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.
