Overview of the Proposed Canada an Consumer Product Safety Act – (Bill C-6) ICPHSO, Toronto – October 27, 2009

CONTEXT Canada’s food and consumer product safety regime has served Canadians well, however, recent incidents relating to food, health and consumer products, underscore the need to modernize legislation Canada’s consumer product safety system was developed in an earlier era:  The Hazardous Products Act is 40 years old  New challenges: more complex products; more rapid innovation to market; new source countries; increased consumer demand for information  International counterparts (US, EU) have updated their product safety regimes 2

CONTEXT (cont’) On December 17, 2007, the Prime Minister announced the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan following a commitment from the 2007 Speech From the Throne to: “follow through with legislation providing better oversight of food, drug and consumer products” 3

Current Legislative Framework Hazardous Products Act (HPA) prohibits and restricts the advertising, sale or importation of a consumer product: - designed for household, garden or personal use in sports or recreational activities, as life-saving equipment or as a toy, plaything or equipment for use by children….. …..that is or is likely to be a danger to the health or safety of the public by reason of its design, construction or contents Applies to products not covered by other legislation Need to renew our legislation: close gaps with other jurisdictions, address unregulated products, early detection of issues, require corrective action 4

Bill C-6: Proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act Replaces Part I of the Hazardous Products Act Re-emphasizes safety obligations on industry while giving the Government of Canada modernized tools to take action quickly Focuses on continued cooperation and collaboration with stakeholders in promoting safe consumer products and achieving compliance with legislation Adopts modern tools and techniques available in other federal legislation, and brings Canada’s consumer product safety regime in line with its key trading partners 5

Bill C-6: Proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (cont’d) Addressing dangers to human health or safety posed by consumer products not covered by other federal legislation. Notable exemptions include: food, drugs, natural health products, cosmetics, tobacco, motor vehicles “consumer product”: includes components, parts and accessories, attainable by individuals (not commercial products) “danger to human health or safety”: unreasonable hazards (existing or potential) during normal/foreseeable use that could lead to death or adverse effect on health (illness, injury, adverse reactions); not restricted to acute or immediate health incidents and includes chronic effects due to exposure over time 6

Bill C-6: Proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (cont’d) Prohibitions on marketing (incl. manufacturing) products that are: Prohibited as per Schedule 2 Non-compliant with regulations A danger to human health or safety (“general prohibition”) Recalled or the subject of corrective measures that have not been carried out That have false, misleading or deceptive claims (relating to health and safety) including false certification marks 7

Bill C-6: Proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (cont’d) Other Key Features: Ability to require tests and studies to verify compliance or prevent noncompliance Record-keeping to allow traceability in the event of a recall Mandatory reporting by industry on serious incidents with their products (including near misses) Ability to order recall and other corrective action Increased fines and penalties including an administrative monetary penalties system (AMPs) 8

Bill C-6: Proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (cont’d) Current Status: Introduced in Parliament on January 29 th, 2009 Passed by the House on June 12 th, 2009 Referred to Senate Committee (Social Affairs, Science and Technology) on October 7 th, 2009 for review (first hearing Oct 21 st, 2009) Health Canada Currently working on implementation: Regulations/policy/guideline development and consultation with stakeholders 9

Implementation Policy development to support incident reporting: Tracking of incidents Recognition of existing processes and procedures within companies, including person/unit responsible for reporting Discussion of triggers to avoid either under- or over- reporting, particularly related to “near-misses” Who/What/When/How to report Consistency with existing reporting requirements and risk management decisions in other jurisdictions 10

More Information, Comments, Questions Bill C Robert Ianiro Consumer Product Safety Bureau, Health Canada 123 Slater Street, PL.3504D Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9 Tel: Fax: