Prime minister Stephen Harper won wide praise last week for announcing that government rules will be changed to ensure consumer food labelled “product of Canada” will contain almost entirely Canadian-produced ingredients.
His announcement caught many by surprise since the House of Commons agriculture committee just completed months of hearings and is expected to report its recommendations by early June.
Harper said it is important to signal government intentions now, even though he promised that Canadians can send in their views until June 11. Then final rules will be written.
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The prime minister did not indicate if the new rules would be in the form of legislation, regulation or guidelines. The current “product of Canada” guideline allows the label to be used if 51 percent of the value of the product was added in Canada.
It often leads to a “product of Canada” designation on imported food.
“In today’s world, products make their way onto our grocery store shelves from every corner of the earth and the truth is foods marked ‘product of Canada’ or ‘made in Canada’ actually may not be very Canadian at all,” Harper said.
“Under our new rules, if something in the grocery store is marked ‘product of Canada,’ it must mean all or virtually all the contents are Canadian so that all apples in the juice will come from farmers … the cod in the fish sticks will come from Canadian waters and all the milk in the ice cream will come from Canadian dairy cows.”
A label indicating the product was manufactured in Canada and contains some imports also would be part of the new labelling regime.
Farm leaders ranging from the Canadian Federation of Agriculture to the National Farmers Union praised the announcement as a boost for Canadian producers and for truth in labelling.
Consumers Association of Canada vice-president Mel Fruitman was even more enthusiastic. He said the CAC will advocate that the new rules be spelled out in enforceable legislation.
“Part of the problem now is that they are just guidelines,” he said. “But we are very pleased with the announcement and the direction of the policy. It really is the first time that Ottawa has paid attention to consumer issues in almost 20 years since they dismantled the consumer affairs department. This is great.”
CFA president Bob Friesen said the new rules will “strengthen the brand of Canadian-grown food. We welcome the opportunity to help the government develop and implement an effective promotional campaign to accompany the new guidelines.”
The NFU noted that a motion passed at its annual convention called for “clarity and accuracy in food labelling.”
Commons agriculture committee chair and Manitoba Conservative MP James Bezan said May 23 he does not see Harper’s announcement as undermining the committee work.
The only sour note came from Liberal MP Wayne Easter who said Harper’s decision to announce his decision before the committee reported showed contempt for the process.
Easter said the Conservatives are merely implementing proposals that first began to form within the Liberal government in 2005.
