New Substances Program Remissions Approach

1. Effective date

This policy is intended to be read in conjunction with the Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) Departmental Remissions Policy. The New Substances Remissions Approach will take effect on April 1, 2021.

2. Definitions

New Substances Program (NSP)

The regulatory program responsible for assessing and managing new substances (including chemicals and polymers and organisms) prior to manufacture or import in Canada. The NSP is jointly delivered by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC), and charges fees for regulatory and non-regulatory servicesprovided under the New Substance Notification Regulations (Chemicals & Polymers)

Remission

A remission is a portion of the fee associated with a regulatory or non-regulatory service, such as a new substance notification, that is returned to the fee payer by the responsible authority when the performance standard for the service in question has not been met. The Service Fees Act (SFA) requires that remissions must be paid to the fee payer before July 1 of the following fiscal year.

Low-materiality

As outlined in the SFA, low-materiality fees are not subject to remissions, nor to annual Consumer Price Index adjustments. The Low-Materiality Fees Regulations define low-materiality fees as those fees that are less than $51 and fees that are equal to or greater than $51 but less than $151 if the annual fee revenue collected by the Program is below $500,000. Section 3 identifies the NSP fees that are considered low-materiality.

Masked Name

Services to assess a masked name application if the chemical name of the notified substance is claimed as confidential.

Confidential Search (BonaFide)

Search to determine if a substance appears on either the confidential portion of the Domestic Substances List (DSL) or the confidential portion of the Non Domestic Substances List (NDSL).

3. Scope and application

3.1 Scope

Table 1 below presents the performance standards for the assessment of new chemicals and polymers based on section 16 of the New Substances Notifications Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers). If further time is necessary for the assessment, an extension may be granted under Section 83 (4) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. When this occurs, the fee-payer will be eligible to receive remissions if the program does not meet the new extended timeline.

Table 1: Current timelines for services associated with a fee under the New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers)

Schedule	Regulatory timeline in calendar daysFootnote d	Service to be delivered by the NSP within the regulatory timeline:
1 (except R&D – Research & Development)	30	Assessment decisionFootnote e
3 (except R&D)	30	Assessment decisionFootnote e
4 (NDSL – Non Domestic Substance List)Footnote a	30	Assessment decisionFootnote e
4 (Not on the NDSL)Footnote a	5	Assessment decisionFootnote e
5 or 5 (final)Footnote b	60	Assessment decisionFootnote e
6	75	Assessment decisionFootnote e
9 or 9 finalFootnote c	30	Assessment decisionFootnote e
10	60	Assessment decisionFootnote e
11	60	Assessment decisionFootnote e

Table 2: Proposed timeline for services not identified in the regulations

Service	Proposed timeline in calendar daysFootnote g	Service to be delivered
Confidential Search (BonaFide)Footnote f	15	Communication of search results or that search cannot be completed
Masked Name Application	60	Communication of the assessment decision for the Masked Name application

3.2 Application

A remission payment of 25% of the fee will be returned to the fee-payer if the regulatory or non-regulatory service is not completed by the end of the applicable timeline stated above, except for those fees considered low-materiality. The remission rate of 25% is based on current industry standards.

Fee-payers will be informed that they are owed a remission payment by email, and can expect to receive their remission payment within 3 months of said notification. Remissions will be paid out in the same manner that the incoming fees were received.

4. Monitoring and reporting

4.1 Monitoring

The New Substances Remissions Approach will be reviewed after twenty-four (24) months from its effective date. Fee-payers and other stakeholders will have the opportunity to provide feedback during the review.

Subsequent reviews will be carried out every five years after the first review.

4.2 Reporting

On an annual basis, ECCC is required by the Service Fees Act to develop and publish an Annual Report to Parliament for the Service Fees Act, which reports on each fee charged, remissions that were paid, as well as the department’s performance in meeting its performance standards.

5. References

1. Service Fees Act
2. Canadian Environmental Protection Act
3. New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers)
4. Masked Name Regulations
5. Low-Materiality Fees Regulations
6. Guidelines for the Notification and Testing of New Substances: Chemicals and Polymers
7. Annual Report to Parliament for the Service Fees Act
8. New Substances Notification Fees web page
9. Fees Table
10. Frequently Asked Questions

6. Inquiries/comments/complaints

For interpretation, clarification or inquiries regarding this document or regarding a particular remission, please contact the Substances Management Information Line using the contact information below.

Any comments or complaints regarding the application of this policy can also be sent to the Substances Management Information Line.

Substances Management Information Line

Science and Technology Branch
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Place Vincent Massey, 351 St. Joseph Blvd
Gatineau QC K1A 0H3
Telephone: 1-800-567-1999 (Toll Free in Canada) or 1-819-938-3232 (Outside of Canada)
Facsimile : 1-819-938-5212
E-mail: eccc.substances.eccc@canada.ca

In the event that a fee payer is not satisfied with a response received by the NSP on an inquiry regarding a particular remission, they can request a second level review by the Department’s contact, as set out in the ECCC Departmental Remissions Policy.