Canada's Parliament Passes Consumer Product Safety Act
On December 14, 2010, the Canadian Parliament passed the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA), which upon Royal Assent, will become law.
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Health Canada states that the legislation is meant to modernize and strengthen Canada’s 40-year-old product safety law by replacing sections of the current Hazardous Products Act that deal with consumer products and introducing a new legislative regime.
Prohibits Dangerous Products, Mandates Industry Reporting, Increases Penalties, Etc.
According to a Health Canada press release, the new CCPSA will better protect the health and safety of Canadians by:
- Prohibiting dangerous products - prohibiting the manufacture, importation, advertisement or sale of any consumer products that pose an unreasonable danger to human health or safety;
- Mandating industry reporting - requiring industry to report when they know about a serious incident, or death, related to their product to provide government with timely information about important product safety issues;
- Testing upon request- requiring manufacturers or importers to provide test/study results on products when asked;
- Recall authority - allowing Health Canada to order recalls of dangerous consumer products; and
- Increased penalties - raising fines and penalties for non-compliance.
Set to Come Into Force over Next Few Months
An accelerated implementation plan is being developed in order to facilitate the CCPSA’s coming into force in the next few months. To make the transition from the Hazardous Products Act to the new legislation as smooth as possible, the Government will be actively communicating with industry to inform them of the coming-into-force date and their new obligations and requirements under the Act.
Adds to Efforts Made Over Past Year on Lead, Cribs, Surface Coatings
Health Canada notes that over the past year, the Government has demonstrated its ongoing commitment to consumer product safety through new regulations on lead, cribs and cradles, and surface coating materials. With the new CCPSA, the Government will be able to do even more to address emerging consumer product safety issues. (See ITT’s Online Archives or 12/02/10, 12/01/10, 11/18/10 news, 10120243, 10120140 and 10111822 for BP summaries of Canadian action on cribs, lead content, and lead in surface coatings.)
Additional information on the CCPSA available here.