The flag of Canada. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.org – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) walked back a ban on the use of “Product of Israel” labels for wines produced in Judea and Samaria.

In a letter sent this week, the Liquor Control Board of Ontario had asked vendors to stop selling and importing wines from two wineries located in Judea and Samaria, Psagot Winery and Shiloh Winery.

According to the letter, the CFIA had ruled that the wines could not be labeled “Product of Israel” because they were produced beyond the pre-1967 lines, where the Canadian government does not recognize Israeli control.

But the CFIA said in a statement Thursday, “We did not fully consider the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement…These wines adhere to the Agreement and therefore we can confirm that the products in question can be sold as currently labeled.”

Shortly before the reversal, B’nai Brith Canada had said it was “expecting this disturbing decision to be corrected in short order.”

Psagot Winery had said it was “shocked” by the original decision and called the move a “blatant distortion of history,” while Shiloh Winery deemed the move “absurd.”