Liquid and Viscous Products: Glossary

The term Container refers to a receptacle, package, wrapper, or confining band in which a product is offered for sale. The term does not include package liners or shipping containers or any outer wrapping or box that is not customarily displayed to the consumer.

Fair Business Practices Branch will interpret the dealer identity and principal place of business to consist of a dealer name, city and postal code.

In general, the numbers used must be shown to 3 figures in the decimal system, thus requiring some net quantity figures to be rounded off. Any final zeroes to the right of the decimal point need not be expressed.

Three exceptions to the Degree Of Precision requirement are permitted:

1. If the net quantity is less than 100 millilitres, the figure may be shown to two decimal figures. Any final zeros to the right of the decimal point similarly need not be expressed.
   
   

   Degree of Precision

   Incorrect	Permissable	Correct
   53.592ml	53.6 ml	54 ml

2. If the net quantity is less than one, then the figure may be shown in either the decimal system with the figure zero preceding the decimal point, or in words.
   
   

   Degree of Precision

   Correct
   0.75 mL

3. A specific variation of (ii) above permits 500 millilitres to be shown as one-half litre. This declaration may be in decimal figures or words.
   
   

   Degree of Precision

   500 millilitres
   500 mL
   0.5 L
   one-half litre/un demi litre
   one-half L/un demi L

Where a prepackaged product is wholly manufactured or produced in a country other than Canada, the application of any one of the following formats will satisfy the requirements of the Regulations:

• The name and address of a Canadian dealer preceded by the words "imported by/importé par" or "imported for/importé pour"; or
• The statement of geographic origin located immediately adjacent to the name and address of a Canadian dealer; or
• The name and address of the dealer outside Canada.

A Local Product is exempt from the bilingual labelling requirement if:

• The product is manufactured and sold in a local government unit or its adjacent units, in which one of the official languages is the mother tongue of less than 10 per cent of that unit's population; and
• The information required to be shown on the label is shown in the official language that is the mother tongue of at least 10 per cent of that unit's population.

Where there are one or more surfaces that are of equal size and prominence as the principal display panel, the product identity and net quantity declarations can be shown in one of the official languages on one of the surfaces, provided that the same information is shown in the other official language on one of the other surfaces.

"Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" claims are subject to specific assessment criteria. The enforcement guidelines entitled "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" Claims describe the Competition Bureau's approach in assessing these claims for non-food products under the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and the Textile Labelling Act.

The type height requirements for the numerical portion of a quantity declaration are directly related to the size of the principal display surface. The type height must not be less than the minimum size outlined in the following table.

The type height for all other information in the net quantity declaration must be a minimum of 1.6 mm (1/16 inch) where upper case letters only are used or as measured in relation to the lower case 'o' if upper and lower case or only lower case letters are used.

The type height must be a minimum of 1.6 mm (1/16 inch) where upper case letters only are used or as measured in relation to the lower case 'o' if upper and lower case or only lower case letters are used.

In certain cases where the container has a principal display surface of 10  square centimetres (1.55 square inches) or less, the minimum type height may be reduced to 0.8 mm (1/32 inch).

An Ornamental Container is a container which, because of a design on its surface or because of its shape or texture, appears to be a decorative ornament and is being sold as such, as well as being sold as a container for the product.

Note that a label for an Ornamental Container may be applied to the bottom of the container or on to a tag attached to the container.

The Principal Display Panel refers to that part of the label which occupies the principal display surface. The specific definition of the Principal Display Panel depends on the type of container being labelled:

• If a container is mounted on a display card, the Principal Display Panel means:
  1. The part of the label that is applied to all or part of the container's principal display surface; or
  2. The part of the label that is applied to the side of the display card which is normally visible; or
  3. Both of the above.
• If the container is an ornamental container, the Principal Display Panel means:
  1. The part of the label that is applied to all or part of the bottom of the container; or
  2. The part of the label that is applied to all or part of the principal display surface; or
  3. All or part of the tag that is attached to the container.
• For all other containers, the Principal Display Panel means that part of the label that is applied to all or part of the principal display surface.

The definition of the Principal Display Surface depends on the type of container being labelled.

• If a container has a side or a surface that is displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, the term means the total area of such side or surface excluding the top, if any.
• If a container has a lid that is part of the container displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, the term means the total area of the top surface of the lid.
• If a container does not have a particular side or surface that is displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use, the term means any 40% of the total surface area of the container, excluding the top and bottom, if any, if such 40% can be displayed or visible under normal or customary conditions of sale or use.
• If the container is a bag with sides of equal dimensions, the term means the total area of one of the sides.
• If the container is a bag with unequal sides, the term means the total area of one of the largest sides.

There are some products for which a knowledge of the language used is a basic factor essential to the use of the product. Examples of such products include:

• Greeting cards.
• Books.
• Talking toys.
• Games designed for use in a specific language.

In cases like these, product identity should be shown only in the language for whose use the product is intended.

Where it is necessary to round-off the metric declaration to either three figures or two figures, depending on the requirements for degree of precision, the procedure is as follows:

• When the first digit to be discarded is less than five, the last digit retained should not be changed.

  Rounding Off Net Quantity

  Original Number	Rounded Number
  984.3	984
  101.239	101
  68.4	68
  7.32	7.3

• When the first digit to be discarded is exactly five, followed only by zeros, the final digit to be shown should be rounded up if it is an odd number, but no adjustment made if it is an even number.

  Rounding Off Net Quantity

  Original Number	Rounded Number
  984.50	984
  985.50	986
  68.50	68
  7.450	7.4
  7.550	7.6

• When the first digit to be discarded is greater than five, or it is a five followed by at least one digit other than zero, the last digit to be retained should be increased by one.

  Rounding Off Net Quantity

  Original Number	Rounded Number
  984.7	985
  985.51	986
  68.6	69
  6.88	6.9
  7.550	7.6

Dealers are advised that when the value is rounded up, there may be a need to increase the package contents to meet the new declared quantity.

Specialty products can be generally described as products which are not typically purchased by the public at large and which are:

• used at special times, such as religious seasonal products, or
• imported products for which there is no comparable substitute produced in Canada.

Specialty products must display mandatory labelling information in at least one of the official languages.

Under certain conditions, products considered to be Test Market Products as defined by the Regulations (Section 6) may be exempted for up to one year from the bilingual labelling requirement. In order to qualify for such an exemption the dealer who intends to conduct the test marketing must ensure that:

• The product in question has not previously been sold in Canada.
• The product differs substantially from any other sold in Canada with respect to composition, function, state or packaging form.
• The existing labelling on the product complies with the detailed requirements of the legislation, except for those provisions related to bilingual labelling.

In addition, the dealer must file a "Notice of Intention" addressed to the Deputy Director, Fair Business Practices Branch, Competition Bureau, Industry Canada, Place du Portage, Phase I, 50 Victoria St, Hull, Quebec, K1A 0C9, and include the following:

• A description of the prepackaged product together with a sample, or an illustration of the package and label.
• The number of products to be distributed.
• The proposed period of time for test marketing (up to one year) and the proposed commencement date.
• The geographic area or region in which the test market is to be conducted.
• Informationwith supporting data, to verify that the product was not previously sold in Canada in that form and to establish that it differs substantially from any other product sold in Canada with respect to its composition, function, state, or packaging form.

Following receipt of the "Notice of Intention", department officials will evaluate the information and render an opinion as to whether or not the proposed test market product and plan are in accordance with the requirements of the Regulations. The dealer will then receive a letter outlining the Department's opinion and providing further guidance on proceeding with the test market or on correcting existing labels.

Products failing to meet the requirements for the test market exemption are most often not "substantially different" or do not comply with the detailed requirements of the regulations other than those provisions related to bilingual labelling and standardization of container sizes. It is the Department's position that slight changes in product formulation or package design would not qualify the product as being substantially different. New, unique products, or products which are packaged in unique delivery systems are often considered to be substantially different.

In cases where the Department is of the opinion that a product satisfies the regulations respecting test marketing, dealers are advised that during the one year period of test marketing, distribution of the product must be limited to local government units where the official language used on the label is the mother tongue of at least 10 per cent of the total number of persons residing in the unit and where the other official language is the mother tongue of less than 10 per cent of the total number of persons residing in the same local government unit.

It is also important to note that this exemption applies only to the bilingual labelling requirements of the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Regulations and does not exempt the dealer from providing bilingual declarations by other federal or provincial statutes.

The use of either a word or symbol for the unit of measurement is acceptable. Column I in the following table shows the correct spelling of the unit of measurement in English and French, and Column II shows the acceptable symbol.

Note the following points about unit of measurement usage:

• The symbols in Column II are in themselves considered bilingual.
• When using the symbols for litre or millilitre, the symbols "L" and "mL" are preferred.

• Except for the litre symbol, "L", all unit of measurement symbols (Column II) must be shown in lower case letters. Neither a period nor the letter "s" should be used after any symbol.

  Unit Of Measurement

  Correct	Incorrect
  ml	ml.
  mL	ML
  ml	mls

• A single space should be used to separate the number from the unit of measurement.

  Unit Of Measurement

  Correct	Incorrect
  500 ml	500ml

• Phrases such as "net", "net contents", or "net quantity" are unnecessary as part of the net quantity declaration. When such terms are used, it is preferable that they appear in both English and French.

Liquids, gases, viscous substances are declared in metric units of volume such as millilitres (mL) and litres (L). The units used depend on the net quantity amount.

• If the volume of the product is less than 1000 millilitres, then the net quantity is declared in millilitres.
• If the volume of the product is 1000 millilitres or more, then the net quantity is declared in litres.