The Key Features of the Act

Definitions (section 2):

“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 or as a

result of normal/foreseeable use.• Death or adverse effect on health (illness, injury, adverse

reactions) including acute and chronic effects.

The Key Features of the Act (cont’d.)

Definitions (cont’d):

“manufacture”• Produce, formulate, repackage and prepare.• Includes recondition for sale.

“sell”• Offer, expose or have in possession for sale.• With or without consideration.• Includes lease / rent.

Other definitions: “confidential business information”, “document”, “government”, etc.

The Key Features of the Act (cont’d.)Prohibitions (sections 5 – 11):• No person shall manufacture, import, advertise or sell

consumer products that are:– Prohibited as per Schedule 2; – Non-compliant with regulations;– General Prohibition on products that present “a danger to human

health or safety”;– Recalled or the subject of corrective measures that have not

been carried out; or,– That are the subject of false, misleading/deceptive claims

(relating to health and safety) including false certification marks.

• For those advertising and selling only, the last 3 prohibitions must have been done “knowingly”.

The Key Features of the Act (cont’d.)• Fines and Penalties:– Increased fines and penalties, including higher penalties where it

can be proved the contravention was done knowingly or recklessly.

– Administrative Monetary Penalties System (AMPs) for noncompliance with orders.

• Compliance and Enforcement:– Ability to enter and seize conveyances.– Suppliers can be required to move and store seized items at their

own expense.– Removal of “automatic” forfeiture after seizure – previous

provisions were deemed “unconstitutional”.– Suppliers can be required to pay for disposal upon forfeiture.

The Key Features of the Act (cont’d.)

• Minister (or her delegate) has the ability to require tests to verify compliance (section 12).

• Requirements to keep records of supplier and clients to allow traceability in the event of a recall, other record-keeping requirements can be added through regulation (section 13).

Mandatory Reporting (section 14)Purpose:• Creates a post-market surveillance system, aimed at early

detection of consumer product safety issues.

The mandatory reporting process is triggered where there is an occurrence involving:• A death or serious injury;• Defect, or characteristic that could lead to a death or

serious injury;• Incorrect or insufficient information ; or, • Recall or other measure that was initiated for human

health or safety reasons by another jurisdiction (including foreign entity).

Mandatory Reporting…continued

• All levels of the supply chain would be responsible for reporting incidents to the Health Canada.

• All levels of the supply chain would be responsible for reporting incidents to the Health Canada. 2 types of reporting are outlined in the legislation:– Incident information may be received from all levels of the

supply chain (retailer-distributors-manufacturers).– Further assessment of the risk would only be received from

manufacturers and importers.

Mandatory Reporting…continued

• Upon receipt of incident information, HC can:– Take immediate action. – Begin internal assessment of risk.– Wait for assessment from importer/manufacturer before

determining course of action.

• Failure to Report:– If a company fails to report, an inspectors’ order will be

issued to order the company to provide information.

Inspectors’ Orders (sections 30 and 31)

• Current situation under HPA:– No authority to order a recall or take corrective actions.– Heavy reliance on advisories, warnings and voluntary compliance.

• Inspectors’ Orders under CCPSA will allow Health Canada to:– To order a company to recall and / or take corrective action.– Make it an offence for a company if they fail to take corrective

action– Take action at the company’s expense.

• Step-wise Enforcement will still continue…– Information/education– Voluntary compliance– Mandatory compliance

Administrative Monetary Penalties Scheme (AMPS) (sections 46-61)• What is an Administrative Monetary Penalty Scheme?

– AMPS are civil penalties aimed at securing compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements.

– AMPS are a flexible and responsive alternative to criminal prosecution for non-compliance.

• Triggers:– Non-compliance with an inspectors’ order will trigger the AMPS

process – issuance of a Notice of Violation (NOV). • Compliance Agreement:

– Establishment has option to enter into a compliance agreement to take action to remedy the situation.

• Ministerial Review: request a review of the NOV on the grounds that:– an order has not been violated;– the penalty was not calculated properly.

Regulations (section 36)• “True” prohibitions from Part I, Scheduled I of the HPA are

listed in Schedule 2 any may be amended by regulation. • Other prohibitions are rewritten as regulations - stand-alone

or incorporated into existing – with the explicit authority to prohibit products in regulations.

• Allow exemptions.• Product, class-specific or generic requirements for the

manufacturing, etc of consumer products.• Ability to designate or recognize certification organizations.• Time and manner for providing documents.• Recall, measures and review.

Bill C-6 vs. US CPSIA

• Recalls (preliminary determination)• Mandatory Third Party Testing in Certain

Children’s Products and Certificates• Tracking labels• Import Safety• AMPS vs. US civil penalties• Lead and Phthalates (current regulatory

initiatives)

Questions?