Canadian companies seek value-advantage. One of the tools for this advantage comes from product design and ensuing product claims. Your task for this assignment:
- Research ‘why’ Canadian firms might pursue a path that lets them make either a Product of Canada or Made in Canada claim on products. To do this, you want to understand advantages and disadvantages of this strategy.
- Provide an example of the gains sought by firms when making either of these claims.
- Your report will be a briefing, provided in a one to two page memo, that begins with:
To: Company leadership
From; Your name
Re: Rationale for considering Made in Canada or Product of Canada strategy
Your immediately begin with the briefing that you would provide your leadership. Specifically, you would start with something like, “This memo guides our firm to an understanding of the kinds of advantages we should expect from ( ) strategy. There is a substantial literature on this topic, from the trade as well as from academics….The upsides as well as the difficulties inherent in choosing these product strategies are noted.”
To start your thinking:
"Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" claims
The new Enforcement Guidelines on "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" Claims introduce a distinction between "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" claims. Product of Canada claims will be subject to a higher threshold of Canadian content (98%), while Made in Canada claims will remain subject to a 51% threshold of Canadian content. Made in Canada claims should be accompanied by a qualifying statement indicating that the product contains imported content. In both cases, the last substantial transformation of the product must have occurred in Canada.
Do I have to put "Made in Canada" or "Product of Canada" labelling on my product?
It is important to note that the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and the Textile Labelling Act do not require that the country of origin of a product be identified. Accordingly, businesses that do not make a "Made in Canada" or "Product of Canada" claim are not affected by the new Guidelines.
However, if a business chooses to make such a claim, the Bureau will apply the approach described in the Guidelines when assessing "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" claims under the false or misleading representations provisions of the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act and the Textile Labelling Act.
You may find the following useful in your thinking also:
Country of origin labels induce "consumer ethnocentrism,….” (p. 265)
Smith, S. (2015). Made in america: comparative perspective on country of origin labels for manufactured products in the united states and canada. California Western International Law Journal, 45(2), 261-296.
Or even this link.
https://www.sparkinnovations.com/manufacture-in-canada-or-china/