Notification
Re: New class of Flavoured Purified Alcoholic Beverages
Dear Vendors and Suppliers,
We are writing to update you on Health Canada’s proposed amendment of the Food and Drug Regulations, which defines a new class of “Flavoured Purified Alcoholic Beverages.”
The proposed amendment was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, Volume 152, Number 51 on December 22, 2018 (http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2018/2018-12-22/html/reg6-eng.html).
The comment period on the proposed regulation closed and we want to ensure you have read and understood the proposed regulations to avoid any potential disruptions to your business or operations.
The proposed section (B.02.004) reads as follows:
“(1): No person shall sell flavoured purified alcohol in a container with a volume capacity that is less than or equal to 1,000 ml unless it contains 25.6 ml or less of alcohol.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to flavoured purified alcohol that is sold in a glass container with a volume capacity that is equal to or greater than 750 ml.
(3) For the purposes of this section, flavoured purified alcohol means an alcoholic beverage:
that is obtained from an alcohol base that has been purified during the course of manufacture through a process other than distillation and from which most of the naturally occurring substances other than alcohol and water have been removed; and
to which has been added during the course of manufacture any substance or any combination of substances that imparts taste.”
Please note that, as proposed, these regulations would come into force on the day they are registered. It is your responsibility to determine if any products you make or represent fall into this new category, and to ensure they comply with the new requirements upon Health Canada’s approval of the regulations.
You can read the regulator’s news release on this subject here. If you have any further inquiries we recommend reaching out to Health Canada.
Thank you,
LDB Wholesale Operations