On your first point, Canada has some of the most progressive food labelling rules in the world. The nutrition facts panel we have on food in Canada is only very recent; it came into place just a few years ago, and the rest of the world looks at it.
The health committee was looking at food labelling under their child obesity study not too long ago. They were looking at the United Kingdom and a stoplight or traffic light front-of-package label. During their review, they realized that the reason the British have this is that they don't have the nutrition facts panel we have in Canada, which gives the recommended daily percentage of intake of all the ingredients that are important.
I would say that on the issue of nutrition, Canada is a standard-bearer in terms of the information it provides consumers. That was really carefully tested, and it's in place for the vast majority of food products.
Concerning the subsection of the food group you raised, there were some logistical difficulties with some meat categories, and I believe some vegetable categories as well don't have the nutrition facts panel. I think at the time the government decided, or there was some consensus at that point, that the logistical difficulties of putting those on certain items—how do you put it on a head of broccoli, if you will—presented enough problems that they didn't do it at that stage. But the vast majority of products in the grocery store have that facts panel, which make us a world leader.
On your second point, there are two different issues: we're talking about nutrition labelling versus origin. They're very important to differentiate.
In my opinion, Health Canada is very good at what they're telling consumers about food on food labelling, and it's very carefully managed. They don't do anything half-cocked. They do efficacy studies on everything they do to make sure it's interpreted properly by the consumer, and it's very evidence-based and very good.
I think we really have to separate the two and see the difference between that and what we're talking about here, between the labelling of products as to origin and the labelling around nutrition and health and safety.
Concerning all imports playing by the same rule, that's something we've supported very much, mostly in the context recently of Bill C-51, which is the legislation the government has tabled to amend the Food and Drugs Act in relation to the import safety issue.
We're firm believers that imported products and importers need to comply with all the same rules as domestic producers and that the food industry needs to essentially own their value chain and be accountable for things they bring into the country. I think this legislation accounts for that by requiring importers to register with the federal government and be a bit more accountable than perhaps they are now.
On your final point, about misleading statements, I'm not certain about the administrative monetary penalties that are open to CFIA, but the Food and Drugs Act is a criminal statute, so it's my understanding that companies that are seen to be making these mistakes are open to criminal prosecution in some instances and fines in others.
Perhaps Joe could correct me on that one, if that's—