Backgrounder: Canada Consumer Product Safety Act
Frequently Asked Questions: FAQ
OTTAWA - The Government of Canada today introduced proposed legislation that will modernize and strengthen product safety laws by overhauling existing rules to further protect the health and safety of Canadians.
The proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act will provide better oversight of consumer products in Canada by improving the government's ability to take timely compliance and enforcement actions when unsafe products are identified. It will also encourage compliance through higher fines and increased penalties for violators.
"Our Government is committed to protecting consumers from unsafe products, and has consulted widely with the public on this proposed legislation," said the Honourable Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq. "We will continue to work with industry to enhance consumer product safety, and provide Canadian families with better information so they can make informed choices about the products they buy."
The proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act will work to prevent problems from occurring, target the highest risk products, and respond to problems more rapidly and effectively. It will prohibit the manufacture, importation, advertisement or sale of consumer products that pose an unreasonable danger to human health or safety. It will also require mandatory reporting by suppliers of serious product-related incidents, including those where injury may have been averted, or defects that could cause serious injury or illness.
Canada's Government will be able to respond more effectively to protect the public when problems occur, including being able to order the recall of unsafe consumer products. Industry will be required to maintain accurate records so that products can be easily traced throughout the supply chain, particularly in recall situations.
To improve the safety of imports, Health Canada will continue to work in partnership with the Canada Border Services Agency to identify potentially unsafe products at the point of importation, before they are distributed in the Canadian marketplace. Health Canada would also be able to double the number of product safety inspectors over the next five years.
The proposed legislation is part of the Government's Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, a comprehensive set of measures designed to make Canadians safer by strengthening and modernizing the regulation of food, health and consumer products.
Budget 2008 provided $113 million over two years for the Action Plan. In November's Speech from the Throne, the government re-iterated its commitment to measures providing better oversight of consumer products.
The Government of Canada will continue with product safety initiatives by introducing proposed new regulations, including those on lead and phthalates in consumer products, together with industry and other stakeholders.
For more information regarding the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan, please consult the Healthy Canadians website.
Media Enquiries:
Health Canada
(613) 957-2983
Josée Bellemare
Office of the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq
Federal Minister of Health
(613) 957-0200
Public Enquiries:
(613) 957-2991
1-866 225-0709
