RCC urges longer lead times and greater predictability for food labelling

Retail Council of Canada (RCC) is pleased to provide comments on behalf of its members as part of Health Canada’s and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) consultation on the Draft Joint Policy Statement Food Labelling Coordination.  

While RCC is very supportive of the intent of the Policy as it will provide industry with greater predictability with respect to the compliance dates for food labelling changes,  RCC is urging for several amendments to be made: 

• A 4-year interval for compliance dates;
• A standard minimum 4-year implementation period;
• A standard consideration for in-store scale labels; and
• Specific criteria defined in advance with industry to trigger any exemptions to these.

Food label changes are costly, involving a whole-of-label redesign with every new requirement. These amendments would help minimize unnecessary and avoidable costs while also meeting the government’s objectives.