Letter to The Honourable Mark Holland, P.C., M.P. Minister of Health
Response received April 2, 2024
Dear Dr. Phipps,
Thank you for your letter of March 18, 2024, addressed to the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, regarding the proposed new requirements for consumer chemical products under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA). Minister Holland has asked that I respond on his behalf.
As you may be aware, the Government of Canada has made several commitments to strengthen the disclosure of chemicals on labels for consumer products, including in the Prime Minister’s December 2021 mandate letter to the Minister of Health. The proposed new requirements for consumer chemicals under the CCPSA are, in part, in response to these commitments.
Health Canada will review and carefully consider your feedback on the proposed new requirements for consumer chemical products under the CCPSA. To receive notifications about future consultations in this area, I encourage you to subscribe to the Consumer Product Safety Program’s email notification system on consumer product safety and updates to the CCPSA.
There are a number of ongoing initiatives within Health Canada to enhance health and safety protections to children and support increased labelling. For example, in addition to proposed requirements for consumer chemicals, the Department recently consulted on proposed disclosure requirements for fragrance allergens in cosmetics. Additionally, there are many existing regulations that provide strong protections, such as the Phthalates Regulations under the CCPSA that restrict the concentration of six phthalates, in the vinyl of toys and childcare articles to <0.1% by weight.
Other federal departments are also progressing on initiatives to improve supply chain transparency and increase accessibility of ingredient information for products, including a consultation on Supply chain transparency and consumer product labelling. We invite you to contact Environment and Climate Change Canada for more information on this initiative.
Thank you again for your input regarding Health Canada’s proposed new requirements for consumer chemical products under the CCPSA.
Sincerely,
Dennis Price
Director General
Consumer and Hazardous Products Safety Directorate
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Health Canada