2. Requirements for marketing organic products
| Summary | |
|---|---|
| 2.1 | Acceptance of products |
| 2.2 | Waivers and exemptions |
| 2.3 | Prohibitions |
| 2.4 | Trademarks causing confusion |
2.1 Acceptance of products
Products identified as organic that are covered under the Act respecting organic designations may be marketed in Québec if an accredited body certifies that they are compliant with the specification manual stipulated by the CARTV or if their certification program has been recognized as compliant by the CARTV.
Products originating from Québec shall be certified in accordance with the Québec Organic Reference Standardsby one of the certifiers accredited by the Board and shall appear on the list of accredited certifying bodies published by the CARTV on its website.
Products from outside of Québec must be certified by a certifying body that appears on the list of accredited bodies published by the CFIA on its website.
In order for organic products to be sold in Québec, regardless of their origin, their labelling must meet the requirements published in Section 9 of the specification manual pertaining to labelling, advertising, display materials and commercial documents, which are covered in Part 3 of the Québec Organic Reference Standards. These requirements are listed in the table of Appendix B.
2.2 Waivers and exemptions
2.2.1 Regardless of their origin, all products certified by a body that meet the conditions stipulated in Section 2.1, but whose labels contain information referring to their "organic" status do not fulfill CARTV requirements, may only be marketed if their names appear on the Register of Certified Products Granted Temporary Exemption.
Products may be added to the register in the following manner:
Whether on its own initiative or upon a request from the certification body, the company holding the compliance certificate for a product, whether originating within or outside of Québec, must submit a request for temporary exemption to the CARTV in order to be authorized to sell an incorrectly labelled product, while waiting for its label to be corrected. The CARTV must provide the applicant with the appropriate form and the applicant shall provide the CARTV with the following information concerning the product to be covered by the temporary exemption request:
- Name of product
- Trademark
- Name of supplier
- UPC or PLU codes
- Date of sampling
- Name of certifier
- Problem related to labelling
To be included on the Register of Certified Products Granted Temporary Exemption, the applicant company must provide the certification body with a correction plan and must be committed to respecting it. The deadline for making the labelling compliant and the fees charged to obtain a temporary exemption may vary depending on the type of product (see the Regulations Pertaining to Supervising the Use of Reserved Designations Appendix 1: Policy pertaining to fees applicable to certified products granted temporary derogations).
While waiting for its label to become compliant, the product is placed on the CARTV's Register of Certified Products Granted Temporary Exemption and may be marketed until the stipulated expiration date.
The labelling of every product listed on the Register of Certified Products Granted Temporary Exemption and marketed in Québec must be compliant before the stipulated expiration date. It is up to the certifying body to make sure the company responsible for the product’s compliance has applied the required corrective measures to its labelling.
2.2.2 Québec organic products certified by a body that is no longer accredited by the CARTV shall be automatically placed on the Register of Certified Products Granted Temporary Exemption for a six-month period. Any Québec retailers, distributors and processors possessing or circulating on the Québec market any products certified by these aforementioned bodies shall remove them from inventory within 12 months of the date the notification was sent to the registered merchants and to the accredited certifying bodies. After this date, residual stock with the organic designation may no longer be sold.
2.2.3 2.2.3 Any companies based in Québec and whose products are certified by a certifying body whose accreditation has been revoked, and who wish to obtain authorization from the CARTV to sell their products on the Québec market, shall agree to submit an application to a CARTV-accredited certifying body in order to obtain certification for their products, within a maximum period of six months. Those holding certificates affected by this measure shall, upon request, provide the CARTV with a letter of intent showing that certification for their products is to be transferred, along with a copy of their new certification documents once delivered to them by the accredited certifying body. Otherwise, the sale of their products will no longer be authorized in Québec.
2.2.4 It is forbidden to sell on the Québec market any products produced outside of Québec and certified by a certifying body that does not appear on the list of accredited bodies published by the CFIA, unless these products meet the conditions stipulated in the Stream of Commerce and Enforcement Policy, published by the CFIA, which expires on June 30, 2011.
2.2.5 Any companies based outside of Québec whose products are certified by a certification body that does not appear on the list of accredited bodies published by the CFIA, and who wish to obtain permission to sell their products on the Québec market, shall comply with the requirements established by the CFIA, according to the above mentioned Policy.
2.3 Prohibitions
2.3.1 The marketing of products bearing the term “organic” is prohibited in the following situations:
- a) the body that issued the compliance certificate is not accredited by the CARTV or does not appear on the list of accredited bodies published by the CFIA;
- the compliance certificate was not renewed by the certifier, following voluntary relinquishing by the company or a withdrawal ordered by the certifier;
- the product is not listed in the Register of Certified Products Granted Temporary Exemption;
- the product was certified by a body whose scope for the recognized certification program does not cover the category of products concerned.
2.3.2 Every product certified by a certifying body whose name does not appear on the list of accredited bodies by the CARTV or the list published by the CFIA, may not be marketed in Québec as long as the certifier does not appear on one of the above-mentioned lists. Although a product may be certified by an accredited body that appears on the list published by the CFIA, it must be certified in accordance with the requirements set out in the Canadian national standards.
2.3.3 Products from outside Québec are temporarily accepted within the framework of the Stream of Commerce and Enforcement Policy, published by the CFIA, which expires on June 30, 2011.
2.3.4 The Board may establish supplementary requirements for products that are accepted as organic in Canada according to the above mentioned Policy, in order to be sold on the Québec territory.
2.4 Trademarks causing confusion
2.4.1 Any firm marketing an agricultural or food product under a trademark that it owns shall ensure that such trademarks shall not be the cause of any confusion or unfair competition regarding utilization of the organic designation.
2.4.2 Whenever an agricultural or food product is marketed under a trademark that implicitly or explicitly refers to an organic designation or a term derived from within this designation, despite the fact that it contains no organic ingredients, the trademark appearing on the label, the advertising and other aspects of product presentation shall always be accompanied by a clear and legible statement that “this product is not organically produced” or “this product contains no organically produced ingredients.”
2.4.3 Any firm failing to comply with these requirements, by using a trademark of the kind described above, may be subject to proceedings under the Act or appropriate administrative actions.
