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Welcome to the CARTV website

Who we are

The Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV) was set up by the Government of Québec on November 6, 2006, pursuant to the Act Respecting Reserved Designations and Added-Value Claims (L.R.Q., chapitre A-20.03). The object of this Act is to protect the authenticity of products and of terms used to identify and promote them, through product certification based on origins or on special characteristics associated with a production method or specificity.

Effective January 1, 2008 the CARTV was granted jurisdiction over agriculture and food products bearing a reserved designation and sold on Québec territory.

By virtue of the powers conferred upon it, CARTV acts as a competent authority on behalf of the Quebec's Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as to:

  1. Accredit bodies that comply with the applicable accreditation manual as certification bodies;
  2. Advise the Minister on the recognition of reserved designations;
  3. Monitor the use of recognized reserved designations.

In order to both carry out its duties from its responsabilities and offer corresponding services, the CARTV conducts the following programs:

  • Reference Manual Establishment;
  • Reserved Designation Recognition and Maintenance;
  • Certifying Bodies' Accreditation;
  • Supervision of the Use of Reserved Designations;
  • Public and Industry Information.

The CARTV fulfill its role in accordance with the provisions of the Act Respecting Reserved Designations and Added-Value Claims that has fully come into force at that date.

CARTV's Mission

To develop and maintain the recognition, certification, inspection and information systems that allow groups of agri-food entreprises to use a designation for products distinguished by their origin or quality as well as to ensure the integrity of these products in order to gain the confidence of those who consume them.

Structure

The Board is a corporation that is deemed a public organization within the meaning of the Act. As a legal person, it is registered as a public authority with Québec’s Inspector General of Financial Institutions, registration number 8831858657. The corporation’s head office is located in Québec City. The organization’s main business office is in the city of Montréal.

The organization’s decision-making authority consists of a Board, assisted in its work by several committees such as the Organic Standards Committee, the Territorial Designations Committee the Accreditation Committee and the Supervision Committee. The operation of the CARTV’s body is governed by internal by-laws. All the members of the Board, of the technical committees and of the personnel are subjected to a code of ethics and deontology (in French only).

The Board is comprised of the following persons:

  • François Pouliot, representative of producers of products that contain alcohol;
  • Kasey Moctezuma, representative of certification bodies;
  • Christine Jean, representative of processors;
  • Christiane Chabot, representative of distributors ;
  • Lucie Gionet, representative of producers;
  • Pierre-Alexandre Blouin, representative of retailers;
  • Ariane Chenard, representative of consumers;
  • Jean Paul Lussiaà-Berdou, representative of the Quebec Government;
  • Denis Paul Bouffard, President and Chief Executive Officer.

The Organic Standards Committee is comprised of the following persons:

  • Nicolas Turgeon, chairman;
  • Andréanne Bilodeau;
  • Joël Boutin;
  • Loïc Dewavrin;
  • Patrice Gagnon;
  • Serge Lefebvre;
  • Anne Weill;
  • Lucie Gionet, observer.

The Territorial Designations Committee is comprised of the following persons:

  • Paul Caccia, chairman;
  • Sylvain Arbour;
  • Elizabeth Barham;
  • France Gravel;
  • Christian Vinet.

The Accreditation Committee is comprised of the following persons:

  • Danielle Brault, chairwoman;
  • Christine Dupuis;
  • Julie Fréchette;
  • Stéphane Gagnon;
  • Christian Legault;
  • Monique Scholz;
  • Christine Jean, observer.

The Supervision Committee is comprised of the following persons:

  • Marc Charbonneau;
  • Daniel Dubé;
  • Bruce Johnston LL.B.;
  • Serge Nault.

CARTV’s Organization

The organization’s Secretariat consists in the following units:

  • The General Management unit which is, on the one hand, responsible for supporting the Board and the technical committees, and on the other hand, in charge of all activities relating to human, financial and material resources, as well as the functions pertaining to corporate affairs, quality assurance, and reference manuals establishment;
  • The department of recognition and maintenance of reserved designations which is responsible for supporting projects aiming to develop designations, as well as for processing applications for recognition;
  • The department of consumer and industry relations which is responsible for the dissemination of information as well as official logos and marks;
  • The supervision department which is responsible for controlling the use of designations by companies that market agricultural and food products, and grocery businesses that sell them to consumers;
  • The mission related to certification bodies’ approval has been entrusted to the CAEQ which is responsible for evaluating, on the one hand, certification bodies that apply for accreditation or recognition and on the other hand, those that have been accredited or recognized.

The CARTV also carries out projects with respect to information system development and standards comparisons having in mind the reaching of equivalency.

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