Canada Consumer Product Safety Act Consultation: Administrative Monetary Penalties

(International Law Office – Penny S Bonner and Martha A Healey, Ogilvy Renault LLP)

On August 25 2010 Health Canada announced another consultation on regulations under the proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act.

The intent of the proposed Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations would be to provide details on how a penalty for a violation under the proposed act would be calculated, including ‘gravity factors’, weighting and penalty values. The regulations would:

• contain information classifying violations as minor, serious or very serious;

• identify how gravity factors of history and risk would be used to calculate the penalty; and

• provide for a range of penalties associated with the ‘total gravity values’.

This new consultation is the fourth such consultation launched by Health Canada over the last few months. Even though Health Canada is releasing consultation documents (as opposed to actual draft regulations), this activity shows a clear intent to move actively forward, or be seen to be moving forward, with draft regulations for the proposed act. In turn, this may be a sign that Health Canada will push swift passage of the proposed act once Parliament returns from the summer recess in September.

The consultation on the proposed Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations is open for comment until November 7, 2010. Read more here.