On top of what is set out in the Act itself, in March, 2018, the Government of Canada released its proposed approach to the regulation of cannabis which contained some details of the Government’s proposed approach to packaging. This proposed approach discussed items such as:
a. limiting the use of colours on packaging;
b. setting standard font type, size and colour for brand
elements relative to other information displayed
on the package; and/or
c. restrictions on the use of brand elements, including
relative size, colour, and place on the package.
While these items gave a sense of what was likely to come, the most important set of rules relating to packaging was to be set out in the regulations under the Act. Indeed, section 25 of the Act explicitly prohibits the sale of cannabis that has not been packaged or labeled in accordance with the regulations.
On June 27, 2018, the Government released the regulations under the Act to the public and with them the set of detailed packaging rules that will apply to licensed producers across the country in the recreational market.
I do not propose to set out the complete set of packaging rules or an analysis on those rules in this article. Rather, this article will point out a few of the rules that I found to be of interest, either due to the Government’s creativity in closing loopholes before they even existed or due to the fact that the government has left open some wiggle room for creative marketing and promotion.
The Government has stipulated that the color of both the exterior surface and the interior surface of the packaging must be one uniform color. However, the regulations also provide that the interior surface may be a different colour than the exterior surface. Perhaps this exception was put into place so that producers could select their own colour for the exterior of the package while at the same time avoid having to be put to the cost of also changing the interior color of the package. For example, without this exception a producer who used a white container with a color label on the outside would be forced to either leave the exterior of its current packaging white or pay to have the interior colour changed as well (to match the label). Whether intended or not, the ability to use different colours on the outside of the package and the inside of the package will be pounced upon by some (or most) producers to create distinctive packaging in a highly restricted environment.
184