Canada Proposes New Consumer Product Safety Legislation
In January 2009, the Government of Canada proposed legislation entitled, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA, Bill C-6), to modernize and strengthen Canada's product safety laws. The CCPSA would repeal and replace Part I of Canada's Hazardous Products Act (HPA), which deals with consumer products that are either restricted through regulation or are prohibited from being advertised, sold or imported into Canada.
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Highlights of Canada's Proposed Consumer Product Safety Legislation
The following are highlights of the proposed CCPSA:
Mandatory recall authority. According to Canada's Parliamentary Information and Research Service (PIRS), one of the CCPSA's most significant features is the power it would provide to both the Minister of Health and designated officials to order recalls of consumer products (which under the CCPSA would include the components, parts, accessories, and packaging of the product).
PIRS explains that at present, if a consumer product that is not regulated or prohibited poses a health or safety risk, it is up to industry to voluntarily issue and manage a product recall. The federal government's authority in this regard is limited to issuing a public warning and, in the event that it is deemed necessary, subsequently taking steps to regulate or prohibit the product under the HPA.
Penalty and compliance regime. PIRS adds that another striking feature of the CCPSA is the penalty and compliance regime that it would establish for consumer products. The CCPSA establishes offences for those who violate the CCPSA or the regulations made under them, which PIRS states are more complex and severe than those under the HPA.
Prohibition on sale, import, etc. of non-compliant/recalled products.The CCPSA would also prohibit the sale, manufacture, import and advertisement of consumer products that:
do not meet regulatory requirements;
are a danger to human health or safety1;
are the subject of a recall or review order made by Canadian inspectors or review officers;
are the subject of a voluntary recall in Canada;
are listed in Schedule 2 of the CCPSA (which PIRS states includes many of the same products that are currently banned from import, sale, manufacture or advertisement in Canada under Part I of Schedule I of the HPA); etc.
Mandatory reporting. The CCPSA would make it mandatory for manufacturers, importers, and sellers of consumer products to report to the Minister of Health: (i) dangerous incidents associated with consumer products; (ii) labeling defects that result, or might reasonably be expected to result, in death or serious adverse effects on health, including serious injury; or (iii) recalls of consumer products initiated by governments and government institutions in Canada or elsewhere.
Inspection and seizure. The CCPSA would also provide for the inspection and seizure of consumer products for the purpose of verifying compliance or non-compliance with the CCPSA's provisions.
1According to PIRS, the term danger to human health and safety is broadly defined under the CCPSA to include any unreasonable existing and potential hazard posed by a consumer product during or resulting from normal or foreseeable product use, as long as the product may reasonably be expected to cause the death of an individual exposed to it or to have an adverse effect (including injury) on his or her health.
Canada's PIRS legislative summary of CCPSA (scroll downward on page, dated 02/05/09) available at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Sites/LOP/LEGISINFO/index.asp?Language=E&query=5655&Session=22&List=ls
Proposed CCPSA available at http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Parl=40&Ses=2&Mode=1&Pub=Bill&Doc=C-6_1&File=29
Health Canada fact sheet on CCPSA for suppliers (dated March 2009) available at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/alt_formats/hecs-sesc/pdf/pubs/indust/bill_c6-loi/suppliers-fournisseurs-eng.pdf
Health Canada press release on CCPSA (dated January 2009) available at http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/nr-cp/_2009/2009_06bk1-eng.php