Health Canada and National Smokeless Tobacco Company meeting – November 2, 2023

Subject:

Compliance challenges related to smokeless tobacco products under the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations.

Date:

November 2, 2023

Participants:

Health Canada (HC)

• Sonia Johnson (Chair), Director General, Tobacco Control Directorate (TCD)
• Sophie Corriveau, Acting Associate Director, Office of Compliance of Tobacco and Vaping Products, TCD
• Acting Manager, Tobacco Labelling, Tobacco Products Regulatory Office, TCD
• Policy Analyst, International and Regulatory Policy Unit, Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, TCD (Secretariat)

National Smokeless Tobacco Company (NSTC)

• Jean-François Turcotte, President
• Jasmine Odlin, Director of Government and Corporate Affairs
• Adam Taylor, Regulatory Consultant

Introduction:

A meeting was held at the request of NSTC to present their compliance challenges relating to new labelling requirements for smokeless tobacco products under the Tobacco Products Appearance, Packaging and Labelling Regulations (TPAPLR).

The Chair opened the meeting with round table introductions.

The Tobacco Control Directorate reminded participants that this meeting is subject to disclosure as per HC's Openness and Transparency policies. In the interest of transparency, the Department stated that it would be making a record of the meeting publicly available. The handling of information and privacy notice was mentioned and acknowledged.

HC also referred to Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), its international obligation to protect tobacco control policies from the vested interests of the tobacco industry. It was acknowledged by NSTC representatives.

Subjects:

NSTC presented technical challenges related to new labelling requirements under the TPAPLR, which came into force in August 2023, specifically as they apply to smokeless tobacco products.

Specifically, NSTC identified paragraph 90(2)(b) of the TPAPLR as challenging to implement as its current smokeless tobacco packaging has a primary surface area of 2,561mm² and is not large enough to meet the minimum 4,000mm² health warning size requirement.

NSTC noted that they undertook a review of the manufacturing process required to change the size of the packaging to meet the labelling requirements. They have found it is not feasible to do so by January 31, 2024 (the implementation date to display new health-related messages).

NSTC flagged that this is the only tobacco product category under the TPAPLR for which a required labelling element is larger than the product packaging.

HC thanked NSTC for their comments and asked the following questions:

• Was this issue raised by NSTC during the Canada Gazette, Part I pre-publication consultation? NSTC responded that another manufacturer had raised this issue but there was some confusion as to how this was presented in the draft regulations. NSTC flagged concerns generally regarding the small size of these packages.
• Is there a larger size package that can be used to meet the health warning size requirement? NSTC replied there is not, and that there is a package that is taller but the circumference of the primary surface area is the same.

NSTC asked if section 115 could be used to meet the health warning requirement? HC encouraged NSTC to re-visit sections 82 and 83 as well as 115, and reiterated the regulations require the health warning message to be the larger of 75% of the surface area or 4,000mm².

HC further explained that once the transition period to comply with new labelling requirements has passed, inspectors will provide compliance promotion materials to explain the requirements for the manufacturer's specific product. However, HC expects products to be compliant by the January 31, 2024 implementation date.

NSTC explained they would require 24 months to prepare a new package size, including testing the shelf life of the product in a larger package.

In closing, HC indicated it would take this input into consideration and asked for more information regarding the larger package size. HC reiterated that the department does not interpret regulations for manufacturers but will review the information NSTC has shared and will follow-up in the coming days.

Conclusion:

The meeting was then concluded.

Documents:

• Agenda as provided by NSTC