New Substances Program
Advisory Note 2004-01

"New Substances Fees Regulations Establishing Credit Cards as an Additional Method of Payment"

This advisory note describes the policy of the New Substances Program established for accepting payments by credit card for the purposes of the New Substances Fees Regulations.

Background

Under the New Substances Notification Regulations (Chemicals and Polymers) [NSNR (Chemicals and Polymers)] and the New Substances Notification Regulations (Organisms) [NSNR (Organisms)] made under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA, 1999), anyone intending to import or manufacture a new substance in Canada is required to submit a notification package to Minister of the Environment.

Since January 1, 2003, notifiers of new substances that are chemicals or polymers have been required to pay a fee for assessments and other services under the New Substances Fees Regulations (NSFR), also made under CEPA, 1999. Section 11 of these regulations states that fees are payable to the Receiver General by certified cheque or money order at the time the service is requested.

The Industry Coordinating Group for CEPA found, following the implementation of the NSFR, that restricting payment to these methods creates administrative difficulties and delays for many notifiers. It proposed that payment by credit card and uncertified cheque also be considered.

Discussions by the NSFR/Cost Recovery Advisory Panel concluded that allowing these additional methods of payment would be beneficial to both government and industry. Subsequent discussions with relevant Environment Canada services to evaluate the feasibility of these options found appropriate grounds for authorizing payment by credit card, but determined that payment by uncertified cheque was not feasible for administrative and compliance reasons.

This policy authorizes credit cards as an additional method of payment, and is effective immediately. The New Substances Program is currently working on an amendment to establish this policy in its New Substances Fees Regulations.

Application

This policy applies to notification assessments and other services for new substances¹. Other services include:

• confidential searches of substances that have been published under masked names on either the Domestic Substances List or Non-Domestic Substances List;
• masked name applications; and
• applications for a service under the Agreement for Sharing of Information (also known as the Four Corners Agreement) between the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environment Canada, and Health Canada.

At this time, the New Substances Fees Regulations and, therefore, this Policy do not apply to:

• biotechnology products (biochemicals, biopolymers, or animate substances); or
• substances whose use is regulated under another act of Parliament, whether or not the act is listed in Schedule 2 or 4 of CEPA, 1999.

Additional Methods of Payment Accepted

Effective immediately, American Express, MasterCard, and Visa are accepted as payment methods when requesting a service covered by the NSFR.

Information Requirements for Credit-Card Payments

The following information is required when services are paid by credit card:

• type of credit card;
• number of credit card;
• expiry date of credit card;
• name and telephone number of the card-holder; and
• authorized signature.

Fee Form Available

A fee form has been developed to help notifiers determine the total fee for their notification and to identify the chosen method of payment. Notifiers are encouraged to complete and return this form with their payment and notification package. The form is also available in the Fees Regulations section of the Environment Canada Web site.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, please contact the New Substances Notification Information Line at 1-800-567 1999 (within Canada), (819) 953 7156 (outside Canada), or by e-mail at nsn-infoline@ec.gc.ca.

Yours sincerely,

D.C. McBain
Director
New Substances Division

Note 1: A substance is considered new if it is not listed on the DSL