An update on Health Canada's consumer product safety transparency initiative and a note on the prohibition on toys and children's products that contain TCEP in polyurethane foam.

1. Update on Health Canada's Consumer Product Safety Transparency Initiative

As reported in our last newsletter, Health Canada announced in December 2014 that it will now be publishing (1) periodic Consumer Product Enforcement Summary Reports on its product inspections and (2) Quarterly Consumer Product Safety Incident Summary Reports providing statistical information about the incident reports received.

Based on feedback received by Health Canada since this announcement, some changes have been made. Significantly, it has been confirmed that, going forward, the sources of consumer products identified in the Summary Reports will be notified one week prior to the posting of the Report on the Health Canada website.

  • Consumer Product Enforcement Summary Report - in March, Health Canada released an Enforcement Summary Report on children's jewellery. This report followed a sampling and testing process carried out by Health Canada inspectors of children's jewellery items at various retailers and sellers over the course of the 2014-15 fiscal year. Lead and cadmium testing of 20 products was carried out, resulting in one voluntary stop sale.
  • Quarterly Consumer Product Safety Incident Summary Report - Health Canada reports that in the last three months of 2014, 363 incident reports were received and 148 of those (41%) involved an injury. As in previous Summary Reports, housewares represent the largest percentage of reports by category (24%), followed by appliances (23%) and children's products (11%).

2. Take Note of Prohibition on Toys and Children's Products that Contain TCEP in Polyurethane Foam

In March 2015, Health Canada released a notice advising of a recent prohibition for certain polyurethane foam (PUF) products containing tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). This prohibition specifically relates to products intended for use by children under three years of age.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.