The planned deregulation of can sizes in Canada has “been shelved” according to a local MP.
Nancy Jahn, out of Essex MP Jeff Watson’s office tells CTV News, deregulation plans for packaging have been halted. It’s a decision that was made after a stakeholder’s consultation this past spring with the Ministry of Agriculture, Gerry Ritz.
Kingsville Mayor Nelson Santos says they had been hearing rumours about this for the last little while.
Last year, the federal government was considering repealing regulations related to container standards to enable what they called an advantage of new packaging formats and technologies. Local leaders were concerned that plans to harmonize packaged food sizes with American regulations will shut down operations at processing plants locally and nationwide.
Earlier this year, Leamington Mayor John Paterson told CTV News nearly 3,000 direct jobs will be lost. The issue Paterson saw was processors being forced to re-tool their facilities to harmonize packaging.
Some of those local processors included Heinz in Leamington, Bonduelle in Tecumseh and Sun-Brite in Kingsville.
