Canada – Amendments to the Surface Coatings Regulations and Others Proposed

Vol. 1244 | 12 May 2021

On April 24, 2021, Health Canada published a notice proposing Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (Surface Coating Materials) to better define the requirements and scope of the Surface Coatings Materials Regulations, SOR/2016-193. Besides the Surface Coatings Materials Regulations, the notice also proposes amending the following regulations referencing or requiring surface coatings compliance – Toys Regulations; Cribs, Cradles and Bassinets Regulations; Expansion Gates and Expandable Enclosures Regulations; and Playpens Regulations.

The proposal aims to amend the existing surface coatings materials regulations to clarify scope of products covered to aid consistency, cover a wider range of materials, and better align with the United States’ surface coating requirements under 16 CFR 1303. Further, the proposal intends to reduce burden on the industry by eliminating unnecessary testing while adding amendments to aid Health Canada in swiftly removing non-compliant products from the market.

Following is a summary of the key proposed changes:

• Revise surface coating materials definition to include those coating materials that do not ‘dry’ such as powder coatings as well as products such as films and stickers.
• Expand the scope of 90 ppm total lead limit to include surface coatings on certain household furniture products, which will also align Canadian requirements with that of the United States under 16 CFR 1303.
• Clarify that inaccessible product parts do not present a risk and hence only accessible coatings require testing for total lead and mercury and migration of compound of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, selenium or barium.
• Test methods used shall be according to good laboratory practices specified in the various regulations. In addition, for the toys regulation, remove the outdated hydrochloric acid migration test for compounds of antimony, arsenic, cadmium, selenium and barium; and allow/accept the commonly used migration tests for these elements from international toy safety standards such as ASTM F963, EN 71-3 and ISO 8124-3.
• Revise the mercury requirements to a technically feasible 10 mg/kg from the 0 mg/kg in the Toys Regulations; Cribs, Cradles and Bassinet Regulations; Playpens Regulations; and the Expandable Gates and Enclosures Regulations.
• Proposed changes to the Toy Regulations; Cribs, Cradles and Bassinets Regulations; Expandable Gates and Enclosures Regulations; and Playpens Regulations to align requirements and references to the Surface Coatings Materials Regulations.

The comment period for the proposal is open until July 3, 2021. After review of the public comments, Health Canada will publish the final rules in Canada Gazette Part II. Once finalized, these amendments will become effective on the 180th day after the day on which the final regulation have been published in the Canada Gazette, Part II.

This notice can be viewed at: https://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p1/2021/2021-04-24/html/reg1-eng.html

For questions, please contact Laxmi Ravikumar (laxmi.ravikumar@intertek.com, 630-209-9265) or Dr. Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, 847-212-8273).