Fisheries committee  One thing is certain, and that is that if the traceability label on the packaging were to become a legal requirement, suppliers would have to be able to prove or document this traceability. Of course if the information is stored and they don't have to request it from their suppliers and the various intermediaries in the supply chain, our task of evaluating and requesting traceability information would be simplified.

Fisheries committee  I believe that Metro did something that proved to be very helpful in 2010 when it hired an oceanography specialist, a marine scientist. This specialist had university training in the field. I would advise other Canadian retailers to hire someone familiar with the subject. It proved to be very helpful to Metro when it was developing the program and implementing it in the stores.

Fisheries committee  DNA testing programs have been developed to identify product risk using several criteria to determine whether a product is at high or low risk of fraud. For example, a whole fish is at lower risk than a fillet or a portion. This risk level determines sampling frequency. We do not conduct the DNA tests.

Fisheries committee  Okay. As I mentioned earlier, our national brand product suppliers are responsible for their own labels. We cannot make them use ours. Of course, we recommend that they use a program that is as strict as ours. We assess the sustainability of their products as well, meaning that if a national brand product does not meet our criteria for healthy species or responsible fishing, it is not listed among our organizations.

Fisheries committee  No.

Fisheries committee  It's quite all right. It's “Leclerc”.

Fisheries committee  Right now, in my work, I don't pay much attention to prices. My role is focused on assessing the sustainability of products and our traceability system. So I couldn't really say much about the impact of our traceability system on prices. To be sure, some certifications might have an impact on the final price, but unfortunately, I couldn't really say anything about traceability today.

Fisheries committee  I'll see what I can do.

Fisheries committee  Because the program is not a recent one, I am not aware of the impacts of the launch in 2010. However, over the past few years, Metro, in Quebec, established a marketing program called “Freshness you can trace”, which is directly related to our traceability program. There is much more promotion of traceability in the store, in flyers, and even on our website.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for the question. In my opening address, I mentioned two of the major challenges we face. The first is the matter of scientific names compared to common names. Many of our suppliers tend not to use the Latin scientific name. The use of common names can lead to confusion, because some can refer to as many as 40 species.

Fisheries committee  I fully agree with you. At the moment, a product that is caught here, but processed elsewhere, will be labelled as a product from elsewhere. Adding “caught in Canada” to a label is added value in the eyes of consumers. It's definitely a plus.

Fisheries committee  First of all, I'm going to talk instead about species that we refuse to commercialize. Metro annually monitors certain sensitive stocks and vulnerable species. We have a list of temporarily withdrawn species, and we systematically refuse to accept any of those products that suppliers offer us.

Fisheries committee  I would draw a distinction for national brand products, which belong to a specialized supplier. Consider the products of the High Liner, True North and Clover Leaf brands, for example. Those suppliers, which we call “national brand” product suppliers, are responsible for their own labels.

Fisheries committee  Actually, the traceability appears on the packaging of 90% to 95% of our products. Yes, in some situations, we can't display the traceability on certain products for technical reasons. For example, in the balanced format used to print packaging, we use a field to display the ingredients we're legally required to show on the packaging.

Fisheries committee  Thank you for inviting me to speak before this committee. It is a pleasure to virtually be here. Good morning, everyone. My name is Alexandra Leclerc, and I am the procurement manager for Metro. Metro is a Canadian retailer that generates annual revenue of more than $18 billion and operates in the food and pharmacy industries mainly in Quebec and Ontario.