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Vol. 140, No. 45 — November 11, 2006
Asbestos Products Regulations
Statutory authority
Hazardous Products Act
Sponsoring department
Department of Health
REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT
(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)
Description
The purpose of this regulatory initiative is to make the regulatory requirements for asbestos and asbestos products more user-friendly under the Hazardous Products Act (HPA). This is to be accomplished by consolidating the five separate Schedule I Items under the HPA concerning asbestos and asbestos products into one regulation. There are no changes proposed to the context of the current Items.
Background
Asbestos is the commercial name for a variety of fibrous minerals found naturally in rock formations around the world. Industrially, these minerals are valued for their unique resistance to heat and chemicals. The health hazard associated with asbestos products exists in the inhalation of asbestos fibres raised by either industrial asbestos mining processes or the abrasion of products containing asbestos such that the fibres become airborne. While the vast majority of asbestos-related disease has originated from occupational exposure to asbestos, the presence of asbestos in consumer products poses a health risk that also needs to be addressed.
The HPA prohibits or restricts the advertisement, sale or importation of products which are, or are likely to be, a danger to the health or safety of the public. Under the authority of the HPA, various requirements were introduced to reduce the risk of asbestos exposure from consumer products containing asbestos. Currently, these requirements are separated into five Items of Schedule I to the HPA:
| • Item 16 of Part I: |
Asbestos in textile fibre products; |
| • Item 28 of Part I: |
Asbestos in products for use by a child; products for use
in modelling or sculpture; products for use in construction, repairs or
renovations; and products for use in simulating ashes or embers; |
| • Item 37 of Part I: |
Products that are composed of asbestos fibres; |
| • Item 40 of Part I: |
Asbestos products that are destined for application by
spraying; and |
| • Item 44 of Part II: |
Products that are composed of or contain crocidolite asbestos
fibres. |
Each of these Items currently serves independently to protect the Canadian public in the following manner:
- They prevent the exposure of consumers to products containing
or consisting entirely of asbestos that can readily shed loose fibres which
can be inhaled and cause health effects.
- They prescribe strict labelling requirements and restrict the
conditions under which crocidolite asbestos or products containing crocidolite
asbestos may be advertised, sold or imported. Crocidolite is a fibrous amphibole
mineral also known as blue asbestos. These requirements and restrictions
are currently stipulated in the Hazardous Products (Crocidolite Asbestos)
Regulations.
- They enable the passing into law of the 1986 International Labour
Organization Convention 162 guidelines regarding the safe use of asbestos
in the workplace, and the ratification of international compliance of these
guidelines.
Historically, the asbestos-related Items were introduced individually in response to specific hazards to the Canadian public identified over a span of 30 years. Unfortunately, this scattered approach by which individual requirements have been enacted over the years has lead to difficulties in facilitating industry compliance, as well as making Health Canada's enforcement requirements far more labour-intensive than is necessary.
This regulatory amendment is therefore submitted to alleviate these difficulties, in accordance with Health Canada's commitment to
- protect the Canadian public against risk factors over which they
have little control;
- reduce the exposure of the Canadian public to asbestos from consumer
products; and
- assist industry regulatory compliance in accordance with its "safe-use" principle
with regards to asbestos, as outlined in the Minerals and Metals Policy of
the Government of Canada (1996).
Alternatives
Not to consolidate the existing Items (status quo)
The status quo, currently with five separate Items, each of which addressing the use of certain types of asbestos in certain types of products, leads to confusion for industry regarding the asbestos content with which their products must comply. This outdated piecemeal approach would continue, with a system which no longer fits current regulatory practice.
Benefits and costs
The revised Regulations are intended to streamline and simplify the requirements so that affected stakeholders can be provided with the proper tools to facilitate and ensure their compliance. Health Canada will also be better able to apply the requirements to all asbestos-related products advertised, sold or imported in Canada.
There are no substantive costs associated with this regulatory proposal, and no new amendments are proposed which would change the existing requirements. The modifications were determined to have no socio-economic implications. A cost-benefit study was deemed not necessary.
Consultation
In January 2005, the proposed draft of the new Regulations was sent for comments to Natural Resources Canada and to the Chrysotile Institute, a non-profit organization directed by a Board made up of industry, labour and government representatives. Chrysotile is the predominant type of asbestos mined in Canada. No objections were noted.
Compliance and enforcement
The proposed Regulations do not change existing compliance mechanisms. Compliance monitoring and enforcement will continue to be undertaken by Health Canada's Product Safety Programme inspectors under the authority of the Hazardous Products Act.
Contact
Paul Chowhan, Manager, Chemistry and Flammability Division, Consumer Product Safety Bureau, Product Safety Programme, Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health, Address Locator 3504D, 123 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9, 613-952-9138 (fax), paul_chowhan@ hc-sc.gc.ca (email).
PROPOSED REGULATORY TEXT
Notice is hereby given that the Governor in Council, pursuant to section 5 (see footnote a) of the Hazardous Products Act, proposes to make the annexed Asbestos Products Regulations.
Interested persons may make representations with respect to the proposed Regulations within 75 days after the date of publication of this notice. All such representations must cite the Canada Gazette, Part I, and the date of publication of this notice, and be addressed to Paul Chowhan, Project Officer, Product Safety Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Department of Health, MacDonald Building, Postal Locator: 3504D, 123 Slater Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0K9 (fax: 613-952-9138; e-mail: paul_chowhan@hc-sc.gc.ca).
Persons making representations should identify any of those representations the disclosure of which should be refused under the Access to Information Act, in particular under sections 19 and 20 of that Act, and should indicate the reasons why and the period during which the representations should not be disclosed. They should also identify any representations for which there is consent to disclosure for the purposes of that Act.
Ottawa, November 2, 2006
MARY O'NEILL
Assistant Clerk of the Privy Council
ASBESTOS PRODUCTS REGULATIONS
INTERPRETATION
| Definitions |
1. The following definitions apply in these
Regulations. |
"asbestos product"
« produit en amiante » |
"asbestos product" means a product that contains any type
of asbestos, including actinolite, amosite, anthophyllite, chrysolite,
crocidolite, cummingtonite, fibrous erionite and tremolite. |
"display surface"
« aire d'affichage » |
"display surface" means the portion of the surface area
of an asbestos product or its container on which the information required
by these Regulations can be displayed. It does not include the surface
area of the bottom, of any seam or of any concave or convex surface near
the top or the bottom of a product or container. |
"main display panel"
« aire d'affichage principale » |
"main display panel" means the part of the display surface
that is displayed or visible under normal conditions of sale to the consumer.
It includes |
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(a) in the case of a rectangular product or container,
the largest side of the display surface; |
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(b) in the case of a cylindrical product or container,
the larger of |
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(i) the area of the top,
and |
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(ii) 40% of the area obtained
by multiplying the circumference of the product or container by the height
of the display surface; |
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(c) in the case of a bag, the largest side of
the bag; and |
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(d) in any other case, the largest side of the
product or container that is not less than 40% of the total display surface. |
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AUTHORIZATION |
| Advertising, sale and importation |
2. The advertising, sale and importation
of an asbestos product are authorized if the requirements of these Regulations
are met. |
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REQUIREMENTS |
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Non-crocidolite Asbestos Products |
| Authorized asbestos products |
3. (1) Subject to subsection (2), a person
may advertise, sell or import an asbestos product that does not contain
crocidolite asbestos. |
| Conditional authorization |
(2) A person may advertise, sell or import an asbestos
product that does not contain crocidolite asbestos and that is set out
in column 1 of the table to this section if the requirements set out in
column 2 are met. |
| Prohibited asbestos products |
(3) Despite subsection (1), a person may not advertise,
sell or import any of the following asbestos products, even if they do
not contain crocidolite asbestos: |
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(a) a product for use in modelling or sculpture; |
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(b) a product for use in simulating ashes or embers;
and |
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(c) a consumer product that is composed entirely
of asbestos. |
TABLE TO SECTION 3
NON-CROCIDOLITE ASBESTOS PRODUCTS
| Item |
Column 1
Non-crocidolite asbestos products |
Column 2
Requirements |
| 1. |
A textile fibre product that is worn on the person |
(a) The product provides protection from fire or heat hazards.
(b) A person who uses the product in a reasonably foreseeable manner cannot
come into contact with airborne asbestos from the product. |
| 2. |
A product that is used by a child in learning or play |
Airborne asbestos cannot become separated from the product. |
| 3. |
A product that is used in construction, repair or renovation as a drywall
joint cement or compound or as a spackling or patching compound |
Airborne asbestos cannot become separated from the product during its post-manufacture
preparation, application or removal. |
| 4. |
A product that is applied by spraying |
(a) The asbestos is encapsulated with a binder during spraying.
(b) The materials that result from the spraying are not friable after drying. |
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Crocidolite Asbestos Products |
| Conditional authorization |
4. A person may advertise, sell or import
an asbestos product that contains crocidolite asbestos and that is set
out in the table to this section if all of the following requirements are
met: |
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(a) the product is not composed entirely of crocidolite
asbestos; |
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(b) a person who uses the product in a reasonably
foreseeable manner cannot come into contact with airborne asbestos from
the product; and |
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(c) in the case of a product set out in any of
items 1 to 4 of the table to this section, the following statement is legibly
printed, in accordance with section 6, and prominently displayed on the
product's container or, if the product has no container, on the product
itself or on a label affixed to it: |
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"CONTAINS CROCIDOLITE ASBESTOS — CONTIENT DE L'AMIANTE
CROCIDOLITE". |
TABLE TO SECTION 4
CROCIDOLITE ASBESTOS PRODUCTS
| Item |
Asbestos products that contain crocidolite asbestos |
| 1. |
Asbestos cement pipes |
| 2. |
Torque converters |
| 3. |
Diaphragms for chloralkali production |
| 4. |
Acid and temperature resistant seals, gaskets, gland packings and flexible
couplings |
| 5. |
A product that is composed of or contains one or more of the asbestos products set out in items 1 to 4 |
| Asbestos product imported for manufacturing |
5. A person may import an asbestos product
that is composed entirely of crocidolite asbestos for the purpose of manufacturing
a product set out in item 3 or 4 of the table to section 4 if both of the
following conditions are met: |
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(a) on or before the date of importation, the
importer gives an inspector a written notice that contains all of the following
information: |
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(i) a declaration that
states that the person has imported or intends to import the asbestos
product, |
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(ii) a description of the
product and a statement of the quantity imported or to be imported, |
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(iii) the date or proposed
date of importation, |
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(iv) the port of entry
or the proposed port of entry, and |
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(v) the address of the
premises where the asbestos product is to be used in the manufacture;
and |
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(b) the following statement is legibly printed,
in accordance with section 6, and prominently displayed on the product's
container or on a label affixed to the container, in such a way that the
statement remains prominently displayed and legible until the asbestos
product is used in the manufacturing process: |
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"CONTAINS CROCIDOLITE ASBESTOS — CONTIENT DE L'AMIANTE
CROCIDOLITE". |
| Format of statement |
6. The statement required by paragraphs
4(c) and 5(b) must be printed in bold-faced type that
has the following minimum height: |
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(a) in the case of an asbestos product that is
in a container whose main display panel area is set out in column 1 of
the table, the height set out in column 2; |
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(b) in the case of an asbestos product that is
not in a container, that is rectangular or cylindrical in shape and whose
main display panel area is set out in column 1 of the table to this section,
the height set out in column 2; and |
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(c) in the case of an asbestos product that is
not in a container and that is not rectangular or cylindrical in shape,
12 mm. |
TABLE TO SECTION 6
MINIMUM HEIGHT OF TYPE
Item |
Column 1
Area of the main display panel |
Column 2
Minimum height of type (mm) |
| 1. |
250 cm2 or less |
2 |
| 2. |
More than 250 cm2 but not more than
1 000 cm2 |
6 |
| 3. |
More than 1 000 cm2 but not more than
3 500 cm2 |
12 |
| 4. |
More than 3 500 cm2 |
24 |
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REPEAL |
| Hazardous Products (Crocidolite Asbestos) Regulations |
7. The Hazardous Products (Crocidolite
Asbestos) Regulations (see
footnote 1) are repealed. |
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COMING INTO FORCE |
| Coming into force |
8. These Regulations come into force on the day
on which they are registered. |
[45-1-o]
Footnote a
S.C. 2004, c. 9, s. 2
Footnote 1
SOR/89-440
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