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Archived [2022-03-21] Summary report April 28, 2016 - Chemicals Management Plan Stakeholder Advisory Council

Chemicals Management Plan Stakeholder Advisory Council Meeting

Opening remarks

The Co-chairs (the Chairs) started off by welcoming the Members of the renewed Stakeholder Advisory Council (SAC) of the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP) and acknowledged the importance of this forum and their roles and contributions as stakeholders.  All participants were introduced.  The Chairs and SAC members discussed the mandate covering the next phase of the CMP which was identified as being five years. Chairs clarified the objectives and expectations of the meeting as well as the roles and responsibilities of members and government officials.

Recap of the April 27, 2016, SAC information session for the new SAC

Government officials provided an overview of the SAC information session of April 27, 2016 and summarized the following key highlights:

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Agenda item 1 - Overview and Discussion on SAC

Government officials gave an overview of the operations and functions of the SAC including the draft Terms of Reference (ToR), the past SAC evaluation and additional considerations for moving forward Government officials clarified that the expectation of the meeting is to generate discussion on each agenda item, and that they will work with members to finalize the ToR before the Fall SAC meeting. Government officials shared how recommendations from the previous SAC evaluation have been implemented, such as:

During the discussion segment of this topic, members raised the issue of the new Forward Agenda and requested increased communications on topic selection, including the justification as to why specific topics are selected. Government officials explained the different factors that result in the selection of topics, such as priorities, resources and/or technical topics that may be better suited for discussion through other forums, such as at the Science Committee. Members and government officials discussed the SAC Observer role and potential modifications including the possibility of having a specific time during the meeting allocated for their input. A modification to the SAC Observer role will be drafted in the SAC ToR and will be reviewed by members and approved by the Chairs at the next meeting. Members also suggested adding a new section in the SAC ToR to speak to the next phase of the CMP and SAC after this mandate (post 2020). Members appreciate receiving the materials two weeks ahead of the meeting and earlier, if possible.

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Agenda item 2 - Overview of the CMP

Government officials provided an overview of the Governance under the CMP and the scope of the different Acts and Regulations. A summary was provided of the key achievements relating to information gathering, risk assessment, risk management, engagement and outreach (including public outreach), research, and monitoring and surveillance since the launch of the Program. Government officials provided an overview of the CMP Science Committee, including linkages with the SAC. They also gave an overview of upcoming activities under this phase of the CMP to expand the openness, transparency and communications of the program. These activities include sharing lists of substances to be evaluated and managed, including a two year risk assessment work plan, the risk assessment toolbox, approaches and methods that will be used to gather additional information on substances or groups of substances of concern, and the expansion of engagement and outreach activities.

During the discussion segment of this topic, members provided areas of interest for future discussion, such as more focus on risk management tools and performance measurement (for example, effectiveness of risk management through an analysis of various sources of information such as biomonitoring to determine impacts on human health); research monitoring and knowledge gaps; regulatory vs. non-regulatory risk management tools; the new substances program; and pollution prevention.

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Agenda item 3 - CMP Communications

Government officials gave an overview of the objectives of CMP engagement and outreach (including public outreach) activities, such as transparency, predictability, informing decision-making, raising awareness and building public confidence. An overview of the CMP engagement and public outreach framework was provided to demonstrate linkages between current products, activities and target audiences. Government officials gave an overview of the list of current engagement and outreach activities and new activities being explored in this phase of the CMP, such as improved plain language products for communications with public and other audiences.

In the discussion segment of this topic, government officials asked members to share the level of knowledge on the CMP from their constituencies as well as the mechanisms and products they use to brief them. Some members acknowledged that the level of knowledge on the CMP from their constituencies is low due in part to information not being easily accessible (that is, challenges related to the navigation of the different government web sites) and being too technical for most audiences. Some members also expressed that a lack of resources remains a barrier to their ability to put out effective communications. Members shared their current experiences, including the use of social media and pamphlets to increase communications with their constituencies. Members mentioned that they have experienced successful communications when the products are telling a story, include graphics, and when the message is consistent and simple (plain language) across all media (for example, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, pamphlets, web site and blogs). Members are interested in working with government officials to improve CMP communications with different audiences and agreed that a SAC Communications Sub-Committee is needed to pursue this task.

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Agenda item 4 - Identification of Risk Management Topics Moving Forward

Government officials gave an overview of topics that could be discussed with SAC members over the next five years. The intent was to gauge the interest of the SAC members in exploring these topics further as well as to solicit feedback on other potential topics of interest. This feedback will then be used to develop the risk management work plan for the SAC.

Topics discussed include:

Overall members shared interest in exploring all these topics. Other areas of interest that were raised by SAC members include chemicals in consumer products, international triggers for risk management, the use of new chemicals, the linkage between risk management and public outreach materials (similar to Air Quality Health Index), green growth, nanomaterials, consideration for the risk management of vulnerable populations, and a look at risk management considerations throughout various stages of the life cycle approach (that is, whether a chemical is safe in a product and how it can also be address through multiple environmental agreements) and linkages with risk management in the United States (U.S.).

Agenda item 5 - Supply Chain Communications and CMP

Government officials provided an introduction to supply chain communications including the scope from the acquisition of raw materials to the end use in consumer products. They provided an overview of the drivers such as information for safe use, consumer interest, corporate sustainability, regulatory compliance and information requests. An overview of the national and international linkages of these drivers to the CMP was provided (for example, multilateral environmental agreements, risk management measures, container labelling/safety data sheets, Domestic Substance List Inventory Update). Challenges identified by industry relating to supply chain communication were highlighted. Government officials provided an update of current bilateral work and discussions under the Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) with the U.S. and internationally under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). Work under the RCC included discussion on challenges to supply chain communications, challenges to Significant New Activity (SNAc)/Significant New Use Rules (SNUR) compliance, best practices for promotion and sharing of information and ideas for government to increase effectiveness of compliance promotion activities. A summary of the RCC recommendations was provided.

The discussion segment was supported by the Canada/U.S. RCC consultation document. Government officials requested input from members on the next steps from industry to improve supply chain communications, what government can do to encourage and support increased communications and what information do Canadian consumers need. Members suggested adding recycling and reuse into the chain of distribution diagram. Members shared the challenges of supply chain communications when faced with a large number of products coming into Canada from other countries. Members acknowledged that supply chain communications are very complex and suggested that government looks into creating new international partnerships to improve international collaboration and data sharing.

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Agenda item 6 - Discussion on SAC Forward Agenda Topics

Government officials and members agreed on creating a SAC Forward Agenda and members raised the following topics, in addition to those topics raised earlier for consideration for future SAC meetings:

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Closing Remarks

The Chairs thanked SAC members for their valuable contributions, discussions and active participation in this first meeting of the renewed SAC.

The next meeting is planned to be held in Fall 2016.

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