Do You Know What You’re Importing?
By: Kirsten Alcock, Manager of Product Safety, email
Before you decide to purchase a product and put it on the shelf in your store in Canada, do you have confidence that the product label is compliant? Are all ingredients permitted for use in Canada? What are your responsibilities as a store owner?
These are some questions that you have to ask yourself. You are liable for the products you sell to the public. The products MUST be labeled in accordance with the appropriate regulations here. I find myself walking around stores in shock with what I am seeing on the shelves. There are so many products that are improperly labeled and YES, YOU ARE liable for what you put on your shelves.
- If you are importing your product into Canada, you need to ensure that all ingredients are on the DSL – Domestic Substances List. This is a list unique to Canada. Just because something is on TSCA or the EINECS list in Europe, doesn’t mean that chemicals can come into Canada in unlimited amounts. Get a letter in WRITING from your supplier indicating the status of your product. If there are ingredients not on the DSL, are they on the Non-Domestic Substances List (NDSL)? Are they exempt? Are they on the confidential listing?
- I then suggest looking at the label itself. Is your product making any claims? Does that claim require registration with the Canadian government? If not, is it following the appropriate consumer label requirements such as the Consumer Chemicals and Containers Regulations (CCCR, 2001)?
- While looking at the label, is it BILINGUAL? Canadian French is a requirement in Canada.
- Is the label including metric units?
These are just some of the questions you need to ask yourself if you are looking to sell products to consumers in Canada and put these products out on the shelf.
We know end-user safety is of paramount importance to you and your organization. Ensuring the products on your shelves meet the requirements here in Canada is extremely important.
Let Dell Tech help you keep customers safe while ensuring compliance with Canada’s laws such as the CCCR, 2001. Our knowledgeable and professional Technical Consultants will review chemical product formulations and provide a report including a template with the bilingual precautionary text necessary for your product label should your product fall under the CCCR, 2001.
If you require Technical Consulting to ensure your chemical product label is compliant with Health Canada’s Consumer Product Safety Division, contact Dell Tech today! We have been in the business for more than 40 years. This is something unique to Dell Tech. Trust the name that has been in the business for many years.
TRUST DELL TECH! Contact us for Classification guidance, New Substance Notifications, and Products Requiring Registrations.
Contact:
Dell Tech
Kirsten Alcock, B.Sc. (Hons)
Manager, Product Safety Group
519-858-5074
kirsten@delltech.com
Dell Tech has provided professional, confidential consulting services to the chemical specialty
industry in Canada, the USA, Europe, and Asia for the last 40 years.
Contact us today for more information.
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