The federal government is unleashing several initiatives to protect the health of all Canadians and to provide a safety net for consumer products.

The proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act seeks to make Canadians safer by strengthening and modernizing the legislative framework that regulates food and consumer products. We are working to address problems before they happen, targeting the highest risks and developing rapid response strategies.

The new act will prohibit the manufacturing, importation, advertisement and sale of consumer products that pose an unreasonable danger to human health or safety and require suppliers to notify Health Canada of serious product-related incidents.

Fines of up to $5 million will be introduced for suppliers who fail to comply with health and safety regulations.
Budget 2008 provided $113 million over two years for Canada’s Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan to encourage collaboration, strengthen safety programs and replace outdated laws with new legislation.

The government will work closely with suppliers through workshops and training to assist them in identifying and assessing safety risks, developing standards and sharing best practices.

Health Canada will provide accurate and relevant information to assist consumers in making informed choices about the products they buy.

The Canada Border Services Agency will work in partnership with Health Canada to identify potentially unsafe products at the point of importation and keep them from being distributed in the Canadian marketplace.

When precautionary measures are unable to prevent a problem from occurring, the new legislation will allow the government to take immediate responsive action to protect the public. Inspectors would be authorized to order mandatory recalls, and suppliers would be required to maintain accurate records to enable quick tracking of products requiring recall.

Plans for Health Canada to double the number of product safety inspectors over the next five years will further improve our ability to respond effectively to health and safety risks.

The proposed legislation will assist us to work with suppliers and other stakeholders to ensure Canadians enjoy the highest standards of safety from the products they purchase.

-30-

The audio version of Garry's July 13, 2009 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here