Question Period Note: LABELLING OF WINES AND OTHER FOOD FROM CONTESTED TERRITORIES SOLD IN CANADA

Q1 - What regulations are there surrounding food labels specifically of wine and other food products from the West Bank? Q2 - What actions have been taken by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to respond to the complaint regarding country of origin labelling on wines?

R.1 - Information provided on a food label must not be false, misleading or deceptive and must comply with other statutory or regulatory requirements relating to food labelling.
It is the responsibility of regulated parties, including those who import food, to comply with the food labelling requirements of the Food and Drugs Act, the Food and Drug Regulations, the Safe Food for Canadians Act, and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations. R.2 - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency held a public consultation from July 10, 2023 to October 10, 2023, to solicit feedback from stakeholders relating to food origin labelling from contested territories.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is analyzing the comments. Feedback received from the consultation will help inform future labelling guidance on country of origin.

Food labelling
It is the responsibility of regulated parties, including those who import food, to comply with the food labelling requirements of the Food and Drugs Act the Food and Drug Regulations, the Safe Food for Canadians Act, and the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) provides general information and guidance to industry to promote compliance with food labelling requirements under federal food laws.
Information provided on a food label must not be false, misleading or deceptive or create an erroneous impression regarding the character, value, quantity, composition, merit or safety of the food and must comply with other applicable statutory or regulatory requirements relating to food labelling.

Redetermination of two wines from the West Bank labelled "Product of Israel"
In 2017, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) received a complaint, with a copy to the CFIA about the country of origin declaration of two wines originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank labelled as "Product of Israel".
Having initially determined that "Product of Israel" did not meet the country of origin requirement for these two wines, the CFIA subsequently clarified its position that the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement supported a decision that "Product of Israel" meets domestic "country of origin" labelling requirements for the wines in question. The CFIA informed the LCBO of its revised determination and posted a public statement on July 13, 2017.
A complaint was then filed with the CFIA's Complaints and Appeals Office. On September 29, 2017, the CFIA once again confirmed the determination that "Product of Israel" meets domestic "country of origin" labelling requirements. The complainant then sought judicial review of this determination.
On July 29, 2019, the Federal Court found the CFIA's determination unreasonable. The Court was of the view that the indication of "Product of Israel" on wines originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank is false or misleading and deceptive, and that the CFIA should have considered the Charter value of freedom of expression so that consumers could make an informed decision. The Court decided that the matter should be sent back to the CFIA for redetermination.
On May 5, 2021, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal and sent the matter back to the CFIA with direction to reconsider and re-determine the matter and issue a more reasoned determination informed by the Federal Court of Appeal's guidance. The Federal Court of Appeal did not rule on whether "Product of Israel" is false or misleading as a "country of origin" on the labels of the wines at issue, or if freedom of expression is engaged and held that the Agency was not bound by the lower Court's reasons.
In 2022, the CFIA redetermined that without clarifying information, the reference to "Product of Israel" on the two wine labels in question is considered false under the relevant provisions of the Food and Drugs Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act (as it applied at the time), and the Safe Food for Canadians Act. Specifically, these wines were not produced within the internationally-recognized boundaries of the State of Israel and there is no clarifying information included on their labels to inform a consumer that they were produced in an area of the West Bank administered by the State of Israel. It was also assessed that the Charter was not relevant for this determination.

Consultation on how to label origin of imported food from contested territories
The CFIA launched a public consultation on July 10, 2023, to obtain feedback from stakeholders relating to food origin labelling from contested territories. The consultation closed on October 10, 2023.
For the purpose of the consultation, a "contested territory" means an area outside of Canada that is subject to competing claims of control by third parties.
Feedback received from the CFIA's consultation will help inform future labelling guidance for these situations.

• All food sold in Canada must be properly labelled in a way that is not false, misleading or deceptive. This includes any indication of origin.

• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency held a public consultation in the summer of 2023 to solicit feedback on food labelling originating from contested territories.

• The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will use the feedback from the consultation to help inform the development of labelling guidance.