PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT
Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council proposes, pursuant to section 32* of the Canada Agricultural Products Act, to make the annexed Regulations Amending the Dairy Products Regulations.
Interested persons may make representations concerning the proposed amendments to Don Crosby, Chief of Legislation, Dairy, Fruit and Vegetable Division, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 59 Camelot Drive, Nepean, Ontario K1A 0Y9, within 60 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations should cite the Canada Gazette, Part L and the date of publication of this notice. The representations should stipulate the parts thereof that should not be disclosed pursuant to the Access to information Act, in particular, pursuant to sections 19 and 20 of that Act, the reason why those parts should not be disclosed and the period during which they should remain undisclosed. The representations should also stipulate the parts thereof for which there is no objection to disclosure pursuant to the Access to Information Act.
October 1, 1996
REGULATIONS AMENDING THE DAIRY
PRODUCTS REGULATIONS
AMENDMENTS
1. Paragraph 6(4)(c)** of the Dairy Products Regulations is repealed.
2. Paragraph 28(3)(c)** of the Regulations*** is repealed.
3. Section 3** of Schedule III to the Regulations is repealed.
4. These Regulations come into effect on the date on which they are registered.
** SOR/94-388
*** P.C. 1979-3088These amendments revoke a provision of the Dairy Products Regulations that required the word "style" to be shown on labels of light cheese after the variety name, i.e. "Light Cheddar Cheese" instead of "Light Cheddar Style Cheese". This requirement was introduced into the Regulations in 1994 to facilitate the marketing of "light" versions of popular varieties of cheese which were being promoted by dairy processors. It was felt at the time that consumers would benefit from this type of labelling to differentiate between the traditional named cheese varieties and their "light" versions at a time when numerous new lifestyle products commonly labelled "light" or "lite" were coming onto the market.
Food products labelled as "light" or "lite", are required to have at least a 25 percent reduction in the component claimed to be less than that in the regular form of the food. In the case of light cheese, there is at least a 25 percent reduction in fat content.
It is now recognized that consumers have a greater awareness of the differences between regular and "light" versions of food products. Also, according to a study commissioned by the National Dairy Council (NDC) and the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC), there was some evidence that consumers considered the term "style" may indicate the product to be artificial cheese or a cheese containing non-dairy products, which is not the case.
The National Dairy Council, on behalf of Canadian dairy processors, proposed the revocation of the requirement in order to simplify light cheese labelling and eliminate the misconception the term "style" may give consumers.
The amendment will not diminish existing quality standards for light cheese.
The retention of the labelling requirement was determined to be of no benefit to consumers or producers of dairy products. The status quo was not an acceptable alternative.
Light cheese could be categorized as an unstandardized food, unregulated and not subject to the Dairy Products Regulations. This was not an acceptable alternative because of the close similarity between light and regular versions of cheese varieties that are standardized food products. Although consumers do not expect the two versions to be exactly the same, it is expected that a light version of cheese will be of the same general quality as the regular version. This expectation is served through the maintenance of product standards. Unstandardized light cheese could contain ingredients that could detract from cheese in general as quality food.
Simplifying the labelling requirements will make it easier for dairy processors to market light cheese. Uniformity of labelling with other light food products will be achieved.
This amendment creates no additional costs for the Department or the dairy industry.
The amendment has no identifiable environmental impact. An environmental assessment pre-screening document is available on request.
The NDC raised this issue with the Department on the basis of a proposal by Kraft General Foods in August 1995. The NDC consulted with its general membership and with the Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) in November 1995.
Dairy Farmers of Canada does not support the requested labelling change. However, the Department consulted the Consumers association of Canada (CAC) on November 30, 1995, and the CAC indicated that the term "style" did not really help the consumer to make an informed choice and supported its revocation. On that basis, the Department has chosen to proceed with the amendment.
There are no compliance or enforcement issues associated with this amendment.
Don Crosby, Chief of Legislation, Dairy, Fruit and Vegetable Division, Food Production and Inspection Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 59 Camelot Drive, Nepean, Ontario K1A 0Y9, (613) 952-8000, extension 4724 (Telephone), (613) 993-8511 (Facsimile).
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