1. Annual General Meeting

The Conseil des appellations agroalimentaires du Québec (CARTV) held its annual general meeting on Friday April 28 at 1:30 pm, 2006, at the Hotel Mortagne, 1228, rue Nobel in Boucherville.

After the president, Claire Bolduc, welcomed the participants and presented a report on the board of directors’ activities, the CARTV’s executive director, Denis-Paul Bouffard, reported on the organisation’s activities in 2005 and also outlined future directions for the year 2006.

The 2005 annual report (French version only) can be found at:

http://www.caaq.org//documents/presse/rapportsRapportAnnuel2005Web.pdf

2. Elections to the CARTV Board

During the annual general meeting two positions were filled on the Accreditation Board in charge of organic designation. André Blanchette was re-elected by acclamation as the Processors’ representative and Kasey Moctezuma, the Accounts Representative at Quality Assurance International (QAI) was elected as the Certifying Bodies representative to replace France Gravel from Ecocert-Canada who had not requested a renewal of her mandate. The Board also reconfirmed Jacques Van Geenhoven’s position as a board member.

The election of these new board members took place during the Executive Committee's reorganization.

Claire Bolduc was re-elected as Board Chairwoman. She will be assisted by Christiane Chabot, as vice-chairwoman, and by Jacques Van Geenhoven who continues as treasurer for another year.

Congratulations to all those elected.

3. CARTV 2006 Action Plan

The CARTV has another very full program agenda for 2006.

The Standards Committee will have to spend time harmonizing CARTV standards with the Canadian ones. They will also be working through additional standards to take into account the accidental introduction of GMOs into crops and will determine the threshold trace limits in order to define a non GMO product. This important task will be the subject of a public consultation.

In 2006, the activities linked to the accreditation of certifiers will focus on the evaluation of three (3) organizations whose accreditation will expired this year. Inspection visits are also planned.

The CARTV will complete the written conditions for the Québec Product Entry Acceptance Program and will strengthen certifying body compliance recognition. It will also publish the procedures for the granting of recognition, its renewal, cancellation and right of appeal.

The CARTV will request the Ministre de l'Agriculture, de l'Alimentation et des Pêcheries to implement the notice of recognition of organic designation in order that it be in conformance with the new Loi sur les appellations réservées et les termes valorisants (Regulation respecting reserved designations and quality marks). The basic purpose of this undertaking is to insure that the courts do not have too much latitude in their interpretation of product quality terms. The new legislation requires that the notice of recognition must now make reference to a specification manual to which the products are subject.

It will also support the CFIA in the development and implementation of organic product regulations at the pan-Canadian level, ideally from now through to the end of 2007. Finally, in cooperation with AAFC, it shall advance and eventually obtain the European Union's recognition of the Canadian system.

Three (3) important actions are planned in the communications sector, namely :

• The updating and renewal of material and equipment following the organization's name change in 2007;
• An improved accessibility to the information on certified products, publicly licensed operators and organic products buyers;
• A greater dissemination of organic sector statistical data generated by SIPAB (Information System for Organic Agri-Food Products), established by the CARTV in cooperation with the accredited certifying bodies.

Finally, the organization will try to negotiate a mid term agreement with MAPAQ to insure stable funding during the implementation of the new legislation.

4. Regulation 137 and its effect on the CARTV

On April 13th last, the National Assembly adopted Loi 137 sur les appellations réservées et les termes valorisants, which will replace the present regulation A.20.01 when the ministre de l’Agriculture brings it into effect. This new law will enable the recognition and development of products grown from the soil of Québec.

A new entity, the Conseil des appellations reserves et les termes valorisants, is coming into being and will absorb the CARTV. The council will be responsible for validating specification manuals and holding preliminary public consultations concerning a designation or quality mark. It will accredit certifying bodies. It will also exercise the power to inspect and control the use of reserved designations and quality marks. Regulation 137 will have an important effect on the organization and activities of the CARTV.

A transition period will therefore be necessary. This situation requires the organization to adopt new priorities as of autumn 2006. In addition to having to prepare new identification and communication materials for the CARTV by December 2006, it will be necessary to have a public information campaign to announce the new law and the CARTV. The organization will also have to change its quality management system. Finally, assuming the power to officially inspect will require the CARTV to revise its supervision program in order to incorporate an inspection force into its activities.

5. Recognition of new certification bodies

Two new organizations have been granted accreditation as Authorized Certification Bodies:

• Fraser Valley Organic Producers (FVOPA) (Delta BC), for products from all sources other than Québec, recognized April 12, 2006
• Mayacert (Guatemala), for products from all sources other than Québec, recognized April 28, 2006
  
  
  

CARTV Board of Directors

CARTV Personnel