Montreal, July 13, 2017 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) wishes to direct media attention to Dr. David Kattenburg, the Winnipeg resident who initiated the complaint to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) which resulted in a directive to liquor vendors to suspend sales of wines falsely labelled as “Made in Israel.”
Dr. Kattenburg’s complaint was originally lodged with the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) in January 2017, and was followed up by a formal complaint to the CFIA in late March 2017. His complaint was based on Canadian product labeling law. The two wine products – Shiloh Legend KP 2012 and Psȃgot Winery Chardonnay – were labeled “Made in Israel” at the LCBO website, and on LCBO store shelves, when in fact they were both produced from grapes grown entirely within Israeli settlements in the OccupiedPalestinianTerritories (OPT).
The Canadian government and UN Security Council have explicitly stated over many years that the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) do not fall within Israel’s internationally recognized borders, and that Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Therefore, under CFIA country-of-origin labeling guidelines, these two wine products must be labeled accurately to reflect that the wines were produced in occupied Palestinian territory.
In response to attempts by B’Nai Brith Canada to have the CFIA quash its ruling – before Dr. Kattenburg learned himself about the ruling himself – Dr. Kattenburg has retained the services of a lawyer to ensure that the CFIA abides by and consolidates its ruling regarding these falsely labeled Israeli settlement wines, and extends its ruling to other falsely labeled wine products (e.g. those produced in the illegally annexed Golan Heights) in liquor outlets across Canada.
Dr. Kattenburg is a science educator and broadcaster, and the child of holocaust survivors. Dr. Kattenburg is prepared to speak with media representatives on this matter. He may be contacted through his lawyer, DIMITRI LASCARIS, AT [email protected], 519-851-5991.
About CJPME – Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is a non-profit and secular organization bringing together men and women of all backgrounds who labour to see justice and peace take root again in the Middle East. Its mission is to empower decision-makers to view all sides with fairness and to promote the equitable and sustainable development of the region.
For more information, please contact Miranda Gallo, 438-380-5410
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East www.cjpme.org
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