Attention: All Canadian Trade Associations
RE: Product Identification Standards for use in the Distribution of Beverage Alcohol
I am pleased to inform you that the CEO’s of all Canadian liquor jurisdictions, Provinces and Territories have approved revisions to the 2005 edition of the CALJ Product Identification Standards proposed by the National Quality Assurance Committee (NQAC). The revised 2018 English edition is now available for viewing or downloading from our website at www.CALJ.org. A French version of this document will be available in the coming months.
NQAC is a technical committee comprised of representatives from each of the liquor jurisdiction and various national Trade organizations, including Beer Canada, Spirits Canada and Canadian Vintners Association. The committee was asked to update the CALJ Product Identification Standards to reflect current industry standards and “best practices”.
Highlights of revisions made to the 2018 edition include:
• alignment of UCC/EAN definitions, terminologies and nomenclature with GS-1 and GTIN
• updated references and links to GS1 documents, standards and manuals
• adoption of GS1 GTIN allocation rules and conditions for reuse and reassignment of Item Numbers
• addition of hyperlinks to internal and external references
• removal of outed information and references
• document layout reformatted
A detailed change summary can be found in Appendix F – Summary of Version Changes.
Suppliers of beverage alcohol products to the Canadian market should also be aware of new GS1 rules and conditions for change, reuse and reassignment of GTIN Item Numbers that come into effect January 1, 2019. CALJ has adopted these requirements which are included in this document version under Section 4 - Change of GTIN.
Your assistance in sharing this information with your members is greatly appreciated. Inquiries should be directed to the appropriate contacts within each Canadian liquor jurisdiction.
Sincerely,
Rowland Dunning
Executive Director
Canadian Association of Liquor Jurisdictions (CALJ)