In June 2011, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA) came into effect. This act is administered by Health Canada to protect human health and safety relating to consumer products. The CCPSA legislation replaces Part 1 and Schedule 1 of the Hazardous Products Act and applies to a wide variety of consumer products such as children’s toys, sporting equipment and household products.

This legislation affects importers, manufacturers, retailers, advertisers and distributors and encompasses such things as labelling/packaging, testing, reporting and record-keeping. Importers must ensure that products being imported into Canada meet the regulatory requirements of the CCPSA. Please click here for the CCPSA’s Quick Reference Guide and to ascertain your responsibilities under the CCPSA.

Highlights of the legislation:

• Prohibitions on importing, selling, manufacturing and advertising products that are not in compliance with the regulatory requirements
  
• Requirement to report adverse effects, dangerous defects and/or known recalls
  
• Testing requirements for certain products for commercial use
  
• Recall of products deemed to be a ‘danger to human health or safety’
  
• Corrective measures for contravention of the CCPSA
  
• Requirement to retain all required documents and records for a period of six years, plus the current year
  

Please visit the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act website for detailed information, as well as guidelines and policies for consumer products.

Non-Compliance

Penalties for non-compliance, and for providing false or misleading information, include fines, seizure of goods and, in severe cases, criminal sentences and/or imprisonment.