Regulatory
REGULATORY NEWS FOR WEEK OF DECEMBER 20, 2021
Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. We’ll be back on Monday January 3, 2022. Please accept our very best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season! At CCCA and FPCSC we are keen to learn how the Government of Canada will proceed on the environment and food safety files. The Ministers Mandate Letters were published on December 18, 2021. Here is a summary: Environment Building a cleaner, greener future with climate change being dubbed an “existential threat”. Interesting that indigenous reconciliation is a significant part of the Environment Minister’s mandate. The Minister is tasked with developing a clear roadmap by March 2022, to meet 2030 legislated emission targets. We’ll see what implications this will have on chemicals management. Food Safety Mandate includes addressing labour shortages, support efficiency and climate resilience and significantly cut agriculture’s environmental footprint, including reductions in fertilizer emmissions. A National School Food Policy is also mandated. Comment on the Food Directorate’s proposal as described in this Notice of Proposal can be provided during the next 50 calendar days ending February 02, 2022. The proposal may be revised prior to the pre-publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I. Comments can be submitted by email or in paper format to Health Canada’s Bureau of Chemical Safety at the coordinates below. CCCA and FPCSC will submit comments on behalf of industry stakeholders. Federal Environment and Climate Change Canada has published the 2021-2024 implementation plan. 330 existing substances need to still be assessed. Risk management performance measurements will also be a feature supported by information gathering activities. The framework to address nanomaterials will also be published. Environmental assessments for Food & Drug Act substances regulatory framework will be developed. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s workplan is also included. CCCA and FPCSC will monitor progress and provide you with information you need to know to sustain your sales in Canada. The proposed amendments, aimed at any transportation employee, will: These amendments provide greater clarity and certainty to employers regarding the level of training required to be compliant with Transportation of Dangerous Goods Regulations. By implementing these changes, Transport Canada will promote more consistent training and certification for employees who handle and transport dangerous goods across the country. This notice applies to the calendar year 2021. Pursuant to subsection 46(8) of the Act, any person subject to this notice shall keep copies of the information required by this notice, together with any calculations, measurements and other data on which the information is based, at the facility to which the information, calculations, measurements and other data relate, or at the facility’s parent company, located in Canada, for a period of three years from the date the information is required to be submitted. Where the person chooses to keep the information required by the notice, together with any calculations, measurements and other data, at the facility’s parent company in Canada, that person shall inform the Minister of the civic address of that parent company. The Government will engage with federally regulated employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises towards the implementation of paid sick leave in Canada. The amendments will come into force on a date to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. This will allow time for employers to implement payroll changes and work with unions as needed to adjust collective agreements. The amendments made to Part III of the Canada Labour Code to set the new federal minimum wage, also ensure that it will rise with inflation. Every April 1, beginning in 2022, the federal minimum wage will be adjusted (rounded up to the nearest $0.05) based on Canada’s Consumer Price Index for the previous calendar year as reported by Statistics Canada. The Canadian Health Measures Survey (CHMS) is a comprehensive direct health measures survey conducted by Statistics Canada, in partnership with Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The CHMS includes a biomonitoring component, funded by Health Canada, which measures the levels of environmental chemicals in individual samples of blood and urine. Health Canada’s National Biomonitoring Program reports are key deliverables under the Chemicals Management Plan. The Sixth Report contains summary data for 79 environmental chemicals measured in cycle 6 of the CHMS. This is to remind facilities participating in the legacy Canadian Greenhouse Certification Program (CGCP) that the deadline to transition to the revised United States – Canada Greenhouse-Grown Plant Certification Program (GCP) is December 17, 2021. After this date, directive D-96-12 Greenhouse Certification Program for Export of Greenhouse-grown plants to the United States will be repealed, CGCP export certification labels and interfacility stamps will no longer be valid and will be collected by the CFIA. Any applicant GCP facility that has not signed a Compliance Agreement with the CFIA is not authorized under the GCP and will not be able to ship plants to the United States using an export certification label or domestically within Canada using an interfacility stamp. After months of hard work and extensive research, the project is starting public consultations. We’re inviting Canadians across our network to take part in this phase, which runs from December 2021 through February 2022. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is leading the response and the Alberta government is providing support where possible with help from industry, producers and veterinary professionals.
WorkSafeBC will be engaging stakeholders on the future state of occupational first aid (OFA) curricula in British Columbia early next year, as part of our ongoing commitment to understand how to evolve our service offerings to improve workplace health and safety. Beginning Monday, December 20, winter weights will be permitted on all applicable highways around the province. This includes the central and southern regions of the province. The northern region was the first area of the province for winter weights to go into effect, earlier this month on Monday, December 13. The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development (MLTSD) is interested in receiving feedback and information on the issue of opioid use in the workplace, including access to naloxone in the workplace in order to reduce the risk of workplace-related deaths caused by opioid overdoses. [/vc_column_text] FDA would like to remind U.S. firms that export food products to China, as announced in the Constituent Update: FDA Takes Steps to Facilitate the Export of Food under China’s New Facility Registration Requirements – Decree 248 to submit information via the Export Listing Module (ELM) by 5PM ET today (Friday, December 17, 2021) if they wish to be included on lists for transmittal to China before the end of the year. On January 1, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will open the Voluntary Qualified Importer Program (VQIP) application portal for fiscal year (FY) 2023. OSHA solicits public comments concerning the proposal to obtain the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) approval for the information collection requirements contained in the 13 Carcinogens Standard. DATES: Comments must be submitted (postmarked, sent or received) by February 14, 2022. Over one-third of the food produced in the United States is never eaten, wasting the resources used to produce it and creating a myriad of environmental impacts. Read EPA’s new report about the environmental footprint of food loss and waste in the U.S. and the environmental benefits that can be achieved by reducing U.S. food loss and waste. Effective December 17, 2021, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is adding tetrahydrofuran (CAS No. 109-99-9), 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (CAS No. 103-11-7), methyl acrylate (CAS No. 96-33-3), and trimethylolpropane triacrylate, technical grade to the list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer for purposes of Proposition 65 Scientific knowledge to assess the exposure to nanomaterials continues to improve. The OECD compiled an inventory of available models and tools for assessing occupational, consumer and environmental exposure to Nanomaterials. 54 tools and models were initially compiled and following in-depth analyses, 10 occupational, 7 consumer and 6 environmental tools/models were recommended or evaluated as suitable for assessing exposure to nanomaterials. The detailed information on the analyses and evaluations are provided in the reports accessible from the Series on Nanomaterials website (No. 98, 99, 100 and 101). The Committees for Risk Assessment and Socio-Economic Analysis support Germany’s proposal to restrict the use of undecafluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) and related substances. A new intention has been received for 2,2′,6,6′-tetrabromo-4,4′-isopropylidenediphenol (EC 201-236-9, CAS 79-94-7). Safety Share The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) is now home to the North American Fatigue Management Program (NAFMP), a comprehensive educational and training program aimed at preventing fatigue-related risks and crashes and cultivating a corporate safety culture that proactively works to eliminate driver fatigue. The FDA New Era of Smarter Food Safety Summit on E-Commerce: Ensuring the Safety of Foods Ordered Online and Delivered Directly to Consumers took place virtually October 19-21, 2021. The summit was designed to help the agency improve its understanding of how human and animal foods are sold through Business to Consumer (or B2C for short) e-commerce models across the U.S. and globally. If your workplace includes the outdoors when it’s cold, there’s more to consider in keeping workers safe than just the air temperature. The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) announced today that it will present a FREE Leadership for Emergency Responders conference on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 as the organization’s year-long 125th Anniversary Conference Series continues into the first quarter of the year.
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