Quebec has amended its rules on sales of vegetable
oil-based dairy products, but is still appealing the ruling that led to the
amendments, according to news from the Saskatchewan government.
Amendments to Quebec’s Food Products Act last week have loosened laws that have effectively
banned sales in Quebec of edible oil dairy substitutes, such as some margarines
and non-dairy creamers.
Saskatchewan successfully challenged the relevant
sections of the Act in March under the interprovincial Agreement on
Internal Trade (AIT). An AIT dispute resolution panel was convened at
Saskatchewan’s request in June last year, backed up by the other three
oilseed-growing western provinces.
The Food
Products Act had allowed the province to designate dairy product
substitutes that may be prepared, offered for sale, sold, delivered, processed,
held, displayed or transported for sale.
It had also allowed the Quebec government to determine
when milk or any derivative of milk “ceases to be a dairy product” and when
milk is to be considered the main ingredient in the making of a dairy product.
An AIT appeals panel is expected to issue its final
ruling on Quebec’s recent appeal by the end of next month, the Saskatchewan
government said.
The AIT panel also ruled against Quebec’s ban on the use
of terms such as “milk,” “butter” and “cheese” in labels for dairy substitute
products. Quebec’s labelling rules, however, remain in place for now, the
Saskatchewan government said Monday.
“Quebec may have appealed the earlier AIT panel ruling
on this issue, but we’re hopeful that its legislative actions last week reflect
a genuine commitment to finally tackle these unfair barriers to trade,”
provincial Trade Minister Jeremy Harrison said in a release.
An AIT panel in 2005 ended Quebec’s ban on the sale of
margarine coloured the same “pale yellow hue” as butter.
That regulation ended in 2008.
