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4Translation
Connections Volume 6
No. 4 April 30, 2004
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www.4translation.com
info@4translation.com
Tel: 1.888.777.9531 |
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Attn: [Name] |
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[Account] |
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Greetings from
4Translation. |
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Selling or
distributing your products in Québec? Below
is some helpful information provided by the
Office de la Langue
Française
and the Retail Council of Québec. |
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Background information
Canada, the main trade partner of the
United States, boasts of a significant
part of its population with French as
everyday language, most of which are
located in Québec and the neighboring
provinces of Ontario and New Brunswick.
Over 80 % of Québec’s 7.5 million
inhabitants have French as their mother
tongue, and even more have expressed
their willingness to continue to use
French as their everyday language in
public communications. This led the Québec government to adopt the Charter
of the French Language, twenty three
years ago. The purpose of this language
law was to re-affirm the desire of the
great majority of Quebecers to make
French the common language of work,
instruction, communications, commerce
and business.
The Charter of the French Language
established a series of rights and
obligations, namely the right for
consumers to be informed in French and
the obligation for the retail industry
to offer products and related literature
in French on the Québec market. This
results in :
Retailers’ responsibility to make sure
that inscriptions on products and on
their packaging and the documents that
accompany them, are in compliance with
the law;
Manufacturers’ and distributors’
responsibility to deliver to the
retailers products and documents which
effectively comply with the law.
Below are the general rules of the language of
business and commerce:
Product labeling
Product labeling refers to the
inscriptions on the product itself (if
any), the containers and the packaging,
as well as the documents that accompany
the products.
French is mandatory on the labeling of
all products sold in Québec. English or
any other language, of course, can be
used along with French on product
labeling, provided that the inscriptions
used in the French text are at least
equal to that in other languages. There
are a few exceptions but in general, any
inscription in another language should
have its equivalent in French. Commercial documentation
Commercial documentation refers to
printed advertising such as catalogs,
pamphlets, brochures and commercial
directories.
Commercial documentation distributed in
Québec must be in French. Here again,
one or several other languages may also
be used along with French, provided that
the French text is equivalent to any
other.
Commercial signs
Promotional signs, displays, etc. are
intended to attract consumers’ attention
on your products. When used in business
locations in Québec, this material also
has to be in French. If English or any
other language is used along with
French, you must make sure that the
French inscriptions are markedly
predominant, which means they must have
a much greater visual impact.
There are many ways to ensure this
marked predominance : lettering in
French twice as large; twice the number
of signs in French, or a combination of
size of letters and colors and any other
means which would put the emphasis on
the French text.
Language of software
All the rules regarding labeling,
commercial documentation and commercial
signs also apply to software products.
As for the language of the software
products themselves, there is a specific
rule :
Software products, including gameware,
should be offered and made readily
available in French in Québec unless a
French version of the product does not
exist on the market anywhere.
When the software does exist in a French
version, the English version can only be
offered if the French version is also
available under equal conditions.
When a French version does not exist
anywhere, the English version can be
offered as long as it is in compliance
with the requirements in labeling,
commercial documentation and commercial
signs.
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Software products, including gameware,
should be offered and made readily
available in French in Québec unless a
French version of the product does not
exist on the market anywhere.
- When
the software does exist in a French
version, the English version can only
be offered if the French version is
also available under equal conditions.
- When
a French version does not exist
anywhere, the English version can be
offered as long as it is in compliance
with the requirements in labeling,
commercial documentation and
commercial signs.
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Our goal
is to provide our clients with unmatched
quality, technology and customer
service. Please let us know if you have
any questions or comments. We look
forward to working with you in the
future. If you have any questions or
would like a copy of the guidelines for
selling in Québec, please contact your
project manager. |
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Regards, |
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your unique login to LTRAC at our
New Client registration page. |
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About
4Translation, Inc. |
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4Translation, Inc. was
founded in 1998 to provide a full range of
language services for international
business. Working with professional
translators and translation agencies,
4Translation delivers publication quality
language services for corporations
throughout the world.
Based in Lone Tree,
Colorado, we can be reached by phone at
888.777.9531 and on the Web at
http://www.4translation.com . |
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