Share and view ideas: Consultation on proposed biocides regulations

Current status: Closed

This consultation ran from May 7, 2022 to July 16, 2022.
Surface sanitizers and disinfectants (biocides) are regulated under separate regulations in Canada:

• disinfectants are under the Food and Drugs Act
• surface sanitizers are under the Pest Control Products Act

The purpose of this consultation was to gather feedback on a proposed new set of regulations for biocides under the Food and Drugs Act and a related guidance document for biocides.

Who was the focus of this consultation

We engaged with:

• individuals
• academics
• business owners
• industry and regulatory associations
• household and workplace users of biocides
• consumer and patient safety organizations
• manufacturers, packagers, labellers, importers and distributors

Key items for comment

Health Canada wants to create a new set of regulations for biocides and place them under a single regulatory framework, the Biocides Regulations. This will:

• ensure the rules for surface sanitizers and disinfectants are the same
• allow us to tailor application and regulatory requirements specifically to these products
• help maintain a safe and effective supply of biocides in Canada
• enable companies to reference decisions from other trusted regulators, starting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

We also wanted to gather feedback on the proposed guidance document for biocides. The guidance would explain the requirements for industry.

Ideas and inputs were sought around 4 themes/topics:

• the proposed Biocides Regulations
• the related guidance document for biocides
• the incorporated by reference List of foreign regulatory authorities for biocides
• the incorporated by reference Labelling requirements for pressurized containers containing biocides

The input that was gathered through this process will be used to consider changes to the draft regulations and draft guidance.