Responsibilities Under the Tobacco Act

Act: Tobacco Act R.S.C. 1997, c. 13
Regulation: Tobacco (Access) Regulations, SOR/99-93. Tobacco (Seizure and Restoration) Regulations, SOR/99-94. Tobacco Products Information Regulations, SOR/2000-272. Tobacco Reporting Regulations, SOR/2000-273.

To Whom Does This Apply?

The Tobacco Act is applicable to all people, including retailers, distributors, importers and manufacturers of tobacco products.

According to the definition in the Tobacco Act, a "tobacco product is composed in whole or in part of tobacco and includes tobacco leaves and any extract of tobacco leaves. Cigarette papers, tubes and filters are also included in the definition.

It does not include any food, drug or device that contains nicotine to which the Food and Drugs Act applies.

Summary

The purpose of the Tobacco Act is to protect the health of Canadians, especially young people.

Under theTobacco Act :

• tobacco products must be manufactured in accordance with the standards established by the regulations;
• tobacco products cannot be sold or provided to persons under the age of eighteen (provincial legislation in the Atlantic provinces, B.C. and Ontario set the age at nineteen);
• retailers must place posters comprising of a lawful message that relates to health and specifies the prohibition to provide tobacco products to young people in their establishments;
• retailers cannot sell tobacco products from self-serve counters;
• the promotion of tobacco products is limited by restricting the publicity of tobacco products as well as by prohibiting sales promotion of tobacco by the means of sponsorship;
• manufacturers and retailers cannot sell a tobacco product unless information is not reproduced on the package about the product and its emissions, including health dangers and effects related to the use tobacco products;
• manufacturers are held to transmit information required by the regulations about tobacco products and their emissions.

In accordance with the Tobacco Products Information Regulations and the Tobacco Reporting Regulation :

• The manufacturers of tobacco products shall display the applicable tobacco product health warnings on each package that they manufacture and to display health information and toxic emissions/constituents if the regulation makes provision for that;
• The manufacturers shall provide the required reports according to the regulation.

DISCLAIMER
Information contained in this section is of a general nature only and is not intended to constitute advice for any specific fact situation. For particular questions, the users are invited to contact their lawyer. For additional information, see contact(s) listed below.

New Brunswick Contact(s):
Sharon Chard
Manager (Atlantic Region)
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Health Canada Regional Office - Atlantic Region
18th Floor, Maritime Centre
Maritime Centre
1505 Barrington Street
Halifax, Nova Scotia  B3J 3Y6
Telephone: 902-426-4216
Fax: 902-426-4412
Toll-free (information): 1-866-318-1116
Web site: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index_e.html

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National Contact(s):
Mr. Denis Choinière
Director, Regulatory and Compliance Division
Tobacco Control Programme
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Health Canada
A.L. 3507C1, 7th Floor, MacDonald Building
123 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1A 0K9
Telephone: 613-941-1560
Fax: 613-941-1551
Toll-free (information): 1-866-225-0709
TTY Toll-free (hearing impaired): 1-800-267-1245
E-mail: info@hc-sc.gc.ca
Web site: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/index_e.html