Challenging discriminatory product labeling in Canada

Goods produced in all Israeli-controlled territories were unquestionably labeled as "Product of Israel" in Canada until a politically motivated complaint was filed with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The complaint was denied, along with a follow-up appeal, but then Canada's Federal Court ruled that labeling wines from disputed territories as "Product of Israel" was "false, misleading and deceptive."

In September 2019, The Lawfare Project, together with Toronto-based litigation firm RE-LAW LLP, brought a motion on behalf of Psâgot Winery, an Israeli company, to Canada's Federal Court of Appeal in order to challenge a discriminatory lower court ruling that products made by Jewish-owned businesses in Judea and Samaria cannot be labeled "Product of Israel."

In October 2020, we were successful in our motion for Psâgot to be added as a respondent in this case. Later, in May 2021, the Court of Appeal ruled that the lower court decision could not stand. The original judge improperly assessed the case and her decision prohibiting Psâgot's "Product of Israel" label was deemed not binding.

The issue was then returned to the CFIA, which ruled in May 2022 that Psâgot could keep the “Product of Israel” label on its wines, so long as Psâgot adds clarifying information indicating that the wines at issue are produced in an area of Judea and Samaria administered by the State of Israel. The CFIA’s ruling is markedly different from the widely criticized 2019 decision issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union on Psâgot labels, which banned the “Product of Israel” designation.