Update: Health Canada’s Revised In Commerce List

29 Mar 2022

Have your substances been removed from the Revised In Commerce List?

The Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA, 1999) was implemented by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and Health Canada (HC) to protect human health and the environment.  One of the key goals of the Act is to minimize risk through thorough review of new and existing substances.  As part of the act, substance lists were developed to assess risk and reporting requirements for both new and existing substances.

Substances which were in products that were regulated under the F&DA and that were in Canadian commerce between January 1, 1987 and September 13, 2001 were placed on an administrative list, called the In Commerce List. Additionally, the Revised In-Commerce List (R-ICL) was developed to address necessary concerns of substance duplications, omissions, and inaccuracies that were on the In-Commerce List.

Do You Remember?

In 2019, I informed you, in our blog titled "Health Canada's Revised In Commerce List," that Health Canada was reviewing the R-ICL and would be removing substances from the list that were used exclusively in one of the 9 commodity groups regulated under the F&DA.

Why are you reminding me of this blog?

On February 19, 2022, Health Canada removed 602 substances from the R-ICL that were flagged as having no commercial activity in Canada, which means that these substances may not be re-nominated to the list. Any person manufacturing or importing any of these substances above their trigger quantities will be required to prepare and submit the relevant and complete notification dossier to Environment and Climate Change Canada under the New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers) [NSNR] of the CEPA,1999.

What should you do next?

You should really compare the R-ICL and the substances your company manufactures within and/or imports into Canada to ensure they have not been removed from the list. If you are manufacturing or importing in excess of 100 kg/year of a removed chemical, or 1,000 kg/yr of a removed polymer, it is recommended that your company begins compiling the applicable information to submit a notification to the Government and avoid being in non-compliance with the CEPA, 1999. If none of your manufactured or imported substances have been removed from the R-ICL, ensure you inform Health Canada to avoid removal in potential future Canada Gazette publication.

Need Assistance?

Do you have questions about this topic, the changes being implemented to the R-ICL, the New Substances Notification Regime, the Chemicals Management Plan (CMP), or a related topic?

Contact our experts at Intertek Assuris—we're here to help!

References:

CEPA (1999): Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (justice.gc.ca)

F&DA: Food and Drugs Act (justice.gc.ca)

NSNR: New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers) (justice.gc.ca)

Removal of substances from the R-ICL: Canada Gazette, Part I

Canada Gazette Part I R-ICL: Revised In Commerce List - Canada.ca

Intertek's blog on Health Canada's Revised in Commerce List: https://www.intertek.com/blog/2019-04-11-ricl/

Intertek's page on the In-Commerce List for Food and Drug Act Substances Services - https://www.intertek.com/green/consumer-product/canada-in-commerce-list-for-food-and-drug-act-/