Government Launches Consultation on Food Labels for Products From ‘Contested’ Foreign Regions

Canadian Food Inspection Agency in Ottawa on June 26, 2019. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is launching public consultation on food labels for “contested territories,” specifically imported foods from certain countries.

“Consumers are increasingly knowledgeable about food labels, and labelling is one of the most important and direct ways for the industry to share information. All food sold in Canada must be properly labelled in a way that is not false or misleading, including origin indications,” the department said in a July 10 news release.

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, this public consultation follows a protracted Federal Court case over the labelling of Israeli wines.

The CFIA was subject to lawsuits after a 2017 order that stated wines from the “contested territory” of the West Bank should not be labeled as products of Israel under the Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act.

In a 2021 court submission, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said the wine label issue “raise[d] the spectre of boycotts against Israel.”

“This is a matter of particular sensitivity and importance to the organized Jewish community in Canada,” said the centre.

Court Rulings

In 2019, the Federal Court ruled the Israel label was technically misleading, but said, “There are few things as difficult and intractable as Middle East politics.”

In 2020, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed legal action from 12 groups including Amnesty International and the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, who acted as interveners in the dispute. At the time, the justice said, “We are only a court of law, not a policy forum and still less a Department of Foreign Affairs pronouncing on controversial international issues.

“We are suited to law, not freestanding policy or ideology. We are just lawyers,” wrote Justice David Stratas.

The CFIA is now asking for feedback on how to label the origin of imported food from contested territories, defined as “an area outside of Canada that is subject to competing claims of control by third parties.”

“For food products from contested territories, would having the geographic region or territory where the food product was produced noted on the label help clarify where the product came from so that the label is not considered ‘false or misleading’ under Canadian labelling regulations?” is the question asked by the CFIA.

“This consultation is about domestic labelling laws and policy. It does not pertain to a specific imported food product or the status of a specific contested territory, and is not intended to challenge Canada’s existing foreign policy.”

The online public consultation will be open for 90 days, from July 10 to Oct. 10.