Distribution and Retail Sales

As the manager of a retail store, I buy certified organic products in bulk and then display them in bins, thus allowing consumers to buy the quantity they wish. What type of sign or display panel am I required to place near the bins to inform consumers of the organic status of these products?

You may provide the same information that is displayed on containers or delivery forms, as required by CARTV standards. For example, if the products are prepared at a location certified as organic, the container and the label may display the certification mark and also the logo of the certifying body is responsible for monitoring.

Who must provide information on products involved in a commercial transaction?

Whoever is selling organic products must ensure their integrity and authenticity at the time they are acquired, and must also provide information regarding organic products.

I would like to set up a firm to provide organic catering services. What must I do?

You must have your firm properly certified. In order to be considered organic, each recipe must be subjected to an inspection, and each ingredient must be approved by the certifying body. If recipes include non-organic foods, they cannot be considered as organic and thus only organic foods may be mentioned as such.

When a retail store inadvertently sells products as supplied by producers or processors and then discovers that the products are not compliant with the law, would the store be liable to prosecution?

If producers or processors provide organic products to a retailer and there is proof that these products are not compliant with the law, and that the stores is in no way involved in the infringement in whole or in part, then the retailer will not be liable to prosecution.

On the other hand, anyone selling, packaging or labeling organic products (and this includes retail stores) while being specifically aware that their activities do not meet Quebec's organic reference standards, are liable to a maximum fine of $10,000 for each violation.

Any products that were marketed prior to the suspension or revocation of their certification are not subject to recall, unless the cause of non-compliance might give rise to public health concerns.

The packaging or labels on certain certified organic products sold in my establishment do not comply. What should I do?

Any products that do not comply must be included in a request for exemption submitted to the CARTV. Following this, you may continue to sell them until corrective measures have been applied to their packaging and/or labels. In the interval, the producer or processor must affix stickers that comply with regulations.

Warning... as of January 1, 2005, this exemption will end. From this date onward, the firm will have only three months in which to correct the situation.