News Release

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PRIME MINISTER HARPER UNVEILS LABELLING PLAN TO CLEARLY IDENTIFY CANADIAN FOODS

May 21, 2008
Beamsville, Ontario

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced a plan to modernize the federal guidelines governing use of "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" labels to ensure they clearly identify the Canadian content in food products.

"Our new guidelines are designed to redefine Canadian food content labels to better reflect the true origins of products in today's global marketplace," said Prime Minister Harper. "Our government is tightening the definitions of these familiar labels, so Canadians know exactly what they're getting, and get exactly what they want."

The current food labelling guidelines, unchanged since the 1980s, do not clearly reflect the actual Canadian content in foods sold in Canada. Under the proposed new guidelines, when a label says "Product of Canada," both the contents and processing of that food must be Canadian. A qualified "Made in Canada" label can be applied to products containing imported ingredients as long as the products are manufactured or processed in Canada.

"Today's announcement is the latest step in our government's plan to bring Canada's consumer product regulation into the modern era," said the Prime Minister.

The initiative is part of the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, a comprehensive series of initiatives aimed at establishing tougher regulation of food, health and consumer products.

The Government of Canada will hold consultations to get views from Canadians and stakeholders before finalizing the new food labelling guidelines and their implementation. Canadians are invited to participate in this consultation by visiting www.healthycanadians.ca or calling 1-800-442-2342.

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The Prime Minister's Office - Communications
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