Efforts to launch an organic regulation in Canada before the end of the year have hit a potential snag.
Before the federal government establishes a national regulation it needs to possess the trademark for the term “Canada Organic.”
That trademark is the property of the Canadian Organic Advisory Board, a non-profit organization that helped develop Canada’s organic standard and attempted to set up a national accreditation system a decade ago.
“Not having the trademark issue settled is a roadblock. It’s a serious issue,” said Paddy Doherty, chair of the Organic Regulatory Committee.
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So at the behest of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Doherty has contacted the existing directors of COAB requesting they turn over the trademark to the federal government.
“My assumption is that the present directors will agree to work with the rest of Canada, that they won’t hold up the regulation,” said Doherty.
COAB president Allan Graff said the board is meeting on April 17 to discuss the issue, but he couldn’t promise a decision.
He was annoyed about being approached by a third party.
“If the federal government want it why don’t they approach us?”
Graff also expressed reservations about federal government plans to publish the proposed new regulation in April, noting that the national standard it will be enforcing is still under revision and that Ottawa has been mum on what it will charge the industry for cost recovery fees.
“It’s probably putting the cart before the horse.”
Graff said he is irritated about being pushed into handing over the trademark in such a hurry, noting the irony that one of the things that led to the demise of COAB was an accusation that the group was getting too cozy with government.
“What’s going on here? The same people that were making that accusation are the very same people that are in charge of this particular (initiative).”
Doherty said he doesn’t want to pick a fight with COAB. He credited the group for laying the foundation for the development of a national organic regulation and for the creation of the original national standard.
He acknowledged that his Organic Regulatory Committee has to a large degree picked up where COAB left off after the government yanked its funding for the organization.
But he pointed out the “Canada Organic” trademark was paid for by public dollars and there is consensus in the organic community that the government should own that trademark.
“The organic industry decided we’d like to do what the U.S. did. We like their system,” said Doherty.
“It is a consensus of the organic industry that this trademark be devolved to the federal government.”
That statement perplexes Graff.
“I don’t know what they call consensus,” he said.
Graff noted the industry is proceeding as if there is consensus on revisions to the national standard as well but that is not the case. That is evident from the fourth ballot of the standard where eight of the 40 voting members on the Canadian General Standards Board committee voted against adopting the main document as it was worded.
