Health Canada has confirmed that the underlined text is correct and that “Consumer products that are found to be non-compliant with the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act could be returned to the importer.  The importer may be offered the option of returning those products to the sender or re-consigning them to a third-party outside of Canada.  If the products pose a risk of injury to health or safety, then the products could be subject to measures, including seizure.â€
World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA)Â
On December 12, 2016, An Act to Amend the Food and Drugs Act, the Hazardous Products Act, the Radiation Emitting Devices Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, the Pest Control Products Act and the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and to make amendments to a related Act, formerly known as Bill C-13, was enacted. Â This legislation enabled Canada to ratify the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade Facilitation (TFA) on December 16, 2016.
The TFA, which entered into force on February 22, 2017, contains binding commitments for the 164 WTO Members to modernize and simplify border procedures. The legislative amendments contained in this Act relate to two specific provisions of the TFA:
- Article 10.8.1: Importers may return to exporters goods rejected on account of their failure to meet certain health and technical requirements, unless an alternate way is provided for in laws and regulations.
- Article 11.8:Â Technical regulations may not be applied to goods moving through the territory of a WTO Member from a point outside its territory to another foreign point (i.e. goods in transit).
As a result of the legislative changes, the TFA applies to consumer products under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA), as follows:
- Under Article 10.8.1 of the TFA, consumer products that are found to be non-compliant with the CCPSA could be returned/re-consigned to the importer, unless other measures are required for health or safety reasons such as the seizure of products that pose a danger to human health or safety.
- Authorities already existed under the CCPSA to exempt goods in transit from the application of technical regulations, thus the Act is already compliant with Article 11.8 of the TFA.
- Â In addition, the CCPSA was amended to provide authority, consistent with other Health Canada legislation, to implement international agreements, such as the TFA.
For more information, please contact the Consumer Product Safety Directorate at:
Email: cps-spc@hc-sc.gc.ca
Telephone: 1.866.662.0666 (Canada and U.S. only)
Additional information can also be found online:
WTO-Negotiations
WTO-TFA FAQs
Bill C-13
da Consumer Product Safety Act