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All non-certified retailers that process or repackage organic agricultural products and foodstuffs can be sued as of July 1st 2003.
In order to avoid fines, distribution chains and retailers must comply with certain basic principles and follow the marketing directives defined by the CARTV.
Proper use of the organic designation
The Act Respecting Reserved Designations governs, as of February 1, 2000, the use of the words "organic", "ecological" "biodynamic" and their related abbreviations (i.e. org, eco).
In all cases, in order to protect consumers, "organic" products must be certified by a certifying body recognized by the CARTV, and must comply with Quebec labeling regulations.
If organic products are produced in Quebec
Retailers that purchase agricultural and food products which have been harvested and/or processed and then packaged in Quebec must be sure that these products, when their label states that they are "organic", have been inspected by an accredited certifying body and that their labeling is in compliance with the law, in order to be able to resell them.
The percentage of organic ingredients used to make a product influences labelling regulations. As such, for example:
- A product can be labelled "organic" if it is made up of at least 95% of organic ingredients. The name of the certifying body must then be included on the label or packaging.
- Products with less than 95% of organic ingredients cannot be labelled as "organic". However, if this product has been approved by an accredited certifying body, its organic ingredients can be labelled as such, while including the name of the certifying body after the list of ingredients.
- If a product has more than 70% of organic ingredients, its packaging can state that it "contains x% of one or many certified organic ingredients".
- As for products with less than 70% of organic ingredients, its label must state "Vérifié biologique/Certified organic by…" =(name of the certifying body)
In any case, the list of ingredients must always enable consumers to clearly identify which ingredients are organic from those that are not.
Moreover, containers used for storage and/or transportation of organic products not yet processed and finally packaged must state the name and address of the production or preparation manager, the name of the product, as well as an organic statutory designation.
What should you do if you import organic products?
If you purchase agricultural products or foodstuffs with an "organic" designation or a related term from a supplier outside of Quebec for sale in this province, you must register with the CARTV on a yearly basis by filling out the annual declaration form.
You must submit your request to the CARTV by using its required form. This request, once it has been submitted, represents an agreement to import and sell only those organic products that have been certified by a body recognized by the CARTV. A license will then be granted to you to finalize the registration process. The final registration date for Quebec-based companies is December 31st, although new registrations are accepted throughout the year. An import license is then issued by the CARTV.
Please note that, as of January 1, 2002, retailers must insist that transaction and final labeling documents from their suppliers clearly bear the name or the trademark of the certifying body.
Are organic certifications required?
If your business involves selling agri-food products on the retail level whose packages have been opened before selling them to your clients and are with or without new packaging, you are required to be organic certified (by the CARTV-recognized certifying body) in order to sell these products as having been produced using an organic process, or failing that, you must remove them from sale.
Here are three examples of cases requiring certification:
1. You empty organic wheat flour from its bag to sell it in bulk.
2. You repackage organic rice taken from a 100 kg container into small 1kg bags.
3. You make bread using organic flour.
Non-compliance with these regulations as of January 1, 2003 will result in fines for offending retailers ranging from 2,000 to 60,000 dollars.
How can you make sure that your packaging is in compliance?
In short, when you buy organic agri-food products in order to resell them, make sure that these products have been inspected by CARTV-accredited certifying body, in the case of domestic products, or recognized as such for imported products. Whatever the provenance of the product, its labeling must comply with the law by clearly stating:
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