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Second, the Federal Court's decision concerned settlement products produced in the occupied West Bank and labelled as "Product of Israel." The Taybeh products that have been placed on hold were not produced in any Israeli settlement and are not labelled as "Product of Israel." The court's decision thus provides no basis whatsoever for questioning the accuracy of the "Product of Palestine" labels affixed to the Taybeh products.
Third, despite the Federal Court's ruling, the CFIA continues to allow dozens of wines produced in Israeli-occupied territory to be sold in Canada with fraudulent "Product of Israel" labels. I identified those settlement wines in a letter to the CFIA's president, Siddika Mithani, dated August 28, 2019.
How in good conscience can the CFIA continue to allow settlement wines to be sold in Canada with false country-of-origin labels while it impedes the sale in Canada of Palestinian products that are accurately labelled as "Product of Palestine"?
As the Canadian Jewish News reported on August 30, the Federal Court's decision "is already seeing consequences, though not the kind pro-Palestinian activists had hoped for."
If anything, the Federal Court's decision is a vindication of international law whereas the CFIA's response to it is an affront to international law. The logical response to the Federal Court's decision would be to bar the sale of settlement products bearing false "Product of Israel" labels. Instead, the CFIA is impeding the sale in Canada of accurately labelled products that have been made by oppressed Palestinians.
In my view, the CFIA's response to the Federal Court's decision is plainly discriminatory, as I explained in my August 28 letter to the President of the CFIA.
As we await the CFIA's response (so far we have received none), you can help. Please let the CFIA and LCBO know how you feel about this matter. You can contact them at the following email addresses:
Dr. Siddika Mithani, President, Canadian Food Inspection Agency: siddika.mithani@canada.ca
Jennifer Bell Vice-President | Communications & Corporate Affairs (Liquor Control Board of Ontario): Jennifer.Bell@LCBO.com
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