For more than a year, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture has been promoting a “grown in Canada” label that food producers could use to signal to consumers the food was produced under Canadian conditions and rules.
Now, the national farm lobby wants anyone taking that option to pay a fee that would be used to promote the idea among consumers.
In mid-November, the CFA applied for a trademark for the grown in Canada phrase.
It is suggesting that money raised would be administered by a not-for-profit organization established to promote the benefits of homegrown food and to let consumers know they have a choice.
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CFA executive director Brigid Rivoire said April 14 it typically is a 26-month process to win a trademark approval. If the application is approved, it could be in place by early 2010.
It would be a voluntary label that food producers, processors and manufacturers could use as a marketing tool to promote domestic or local product.
CFA president Bob Friesen told a parliamentary committee last week that it would be a way to raise promotion money, not to fatten the CFA budget.
“Until the whole process and initiative was on its feet, we would have to rely on a level of government to do that positive marketing campaign,” he told MPs on the House of Commons agriculture committee. “Eventually, we see it as being self-sustaining and it would require that whoever labelled the product, they perhaps would have to pay a minimal licence fee and in that way keep it a self-sustaining initiative.”
Part of the motivation behind the grown in Canada label campaign has been unhappiness with the fact that the existing “product of Canada” label often can be applied to imported food if most of the production cost, including packaging or processing, occurred in Canada.
However, the Conservative government is promising to rewrite the definition of product of Canada to ensure consumers are not being misled about the country of origin of their food.
