CFIA backtracks on wine from West Bank label issue

Young employee at agency ‘made a mistake’

OTTAWA • The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is backtracking after a decision that wines produced in the West Bank and other occupied areas should not be labelled as products of Israel.

The CFIA acknowledged its mistake after the Israeli government said in a statement to the National Post Thursday it opposed Canada’s “politicization” of a labelling issue.

“We did not fully consider the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA),” the statement reads. “These wines adhere to the Agreement and therefore we can confirm that the products in question can be sold as currently labelled.”

According to the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), the CFIA had notified wine-sellers last week it is unacceptable to declare Israel as the country of origin for wine products that aren’t produced within Israel’s formal borders.

Israeli officials in Canada appeared unhappy. “Israel supports free trade and objects to its politicization. We are currently in touch with the Canadian authorities and are discussing this matter,” said Itay Tavor, the head of public diplomacy at Israel’s embassy in Ottawa.

But a Canadian government official said Thursday they were told a younger employee at the agency “made a mistake.”

That’s what a “high-ranking official” told Jewish organization B’nai Brith Canada, as that group’s spokesman Marty York put it. York said a “low-level person” at the CFIA had made a decision without seeking authority from the federal government.

“We understand that this is going to be rescinded shortly and we also expect that this person who made this decision will be disciplined,” he said.

Michael Mostyn, president of the organization, told the National Post the CFIA decision went against existing Canadian policy.

“There’s many areas in dispute in the world and many areas in dispute in the world produce liquor products and wines. And nobody would like to see discrimination against Israel in a way that other regions in a similar position are treated differently. That would be the case if there’s no reversal of this particular decision,” he said.

He added the Jewish community across Canada has been “very upset” about the issue. “B’nai Brith and I’m sure many other Jewish groups have been receiving many complaints . ... They feel that it’s very discriminatory against Israeli products.”

New rules had prompted a letter from LCBO to “all sacramental wine vendors” telling them to stop importing and selling wine with labels running afoul of the CFIA decision.

A letter to “all sacramental wine vendors” dated July 11 says the LCBO was notified of the decision, affecting products from two wineries, Psagot and Shiloh, on July 6. The letter states products are made from grapes “grown, fermented, processed, blended and finished in the West Bank occupied territory.”

It goes on to note Canada does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank and other territories occupied in 1967 — including the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip — and that any wine products from these regions labelled as products of Israel “would not be acceptable and would be considered misleading.”

The food inspection agency said it would follow up with the LCBO to correct the mistake.

MENAHEM KAHANA / AFP / GETTY IMAGES FILES Amichai Luria with bottles of his wine at the Shilo winery in the occupied West Bank. The CFIA has reversed a decision that initially told wine sellers it was unacceptable to label Israel as the country of origin for West Bank wines.