We have two programs within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency under which there is a mandatory label pre-registration requirement. For our domestic and imported meat inspection program, labels are forwarded to the agency for assessment and review. All of those labels would be reviewed. As well, labels that come under our processed product regulations, which are primarily for canned and frozen fruits and vegetables, are also reviewed on a mandatory basis. For other program areas, when it comes to nutrition labelling in particular, the nutrition labelling provisions are complex. The approach we have used for enforcement of these regulations begins with an educational approach that is more persuasive than punitive in its early years.
We have worked with industry on tools to help industry sectors design labels and also to help industry understand our expectations when it comes to the information that should be available in verifying the accuracy of the information that is on the labels. With nutrition labelling becoming mandatory for the larger companies, we have done general reviews to see if the nutrition facts table is indeed being used and if claims associated with that label are accurate. In future years we will work on a sectoral basis, looking more in depth at particular sectors to verify, both at the plant level and in some cases through testing programs, whether the statements that are on labels are indeed correct.
We also follow up on complaints. Complaints can arise with regard to the changes that need to be made to labels. How quickly those changes need to be made depends on whether the violation has a more immediate health and safety potential, or if it's more related just to the formatting. If it presents a health and safety concern, we do require that the label be changed immediately.