Environment committee  Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of Parliament. It's a pleasure to be here today to continue discussions on the CEPA review, and in particular how substances are regulated and managed under this important piece of legislation. We appreciate the opportunity to make a presenta

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. I was intrigued by some of the comments that were provided, because while we may have summarized that, yes, we are supportive of the status quo, we are supportive of a science-based, rigorous system when it comes to the new substance noti

Environment committee  As I mentioned in my comments, our member companies do in-house testing and rigorous risk assessments prior to those substances coming into Canada. As well, with respect to the government, they set out the criteria and the parameters for how the science and the information should

Environment committee  May I clarify whether that was for new or existing substances?

Environment committee  So is your argument that industry is not providing enough data for new substances and existing substances?

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. The CSDSL program, as I commented in our opening remarks, is leading the world with how existing substances are being managed. It is our assertion that there needs to be a communication strategy to inform Canadians about the process the go

Environment committee  I'll try to briefly answer your question. With respect to the cancer question you asked, I think it's important to recognize that our whole world is made up of chemicals. All the things we eat, we touch, and we breathe are chemicals, most of which are natural. For example, there

Environment committee  I'm sorry to cause alarm. My apologies. The statistic we have from the Cancer Society is that the new cases of cancer are primarily due to an increasing and aging population. The 43% of new cancer cases and 60% of deaths due to cancer occur among those, really, who are 70 years

Environment committee  No, we wouldn't agree with that statement. As we mention in our brief, the new substances notification regulations provide a science-based, predictable, rigorous system for new substances being introduced into Canada. With respect to existing substances, the categorization proce

Environment committee  Thank you. As I stated in our opening remarks, first and foremost, our number one priority is the health and safety of Canadians in their environment. Our member companies provide products that are beneficial to consumers: soaps, detergents, ant traps, as well as disinfectants

Environment committee  Industry has been actively involved for the past six years, so there's been a cost not just to the government to undertake this initiative. There's also a cost to our member companies and other industry associations and their member companies as well, because we want to make sure

Environment committee  It's an interesting argument, because I think we already have this reverse onus. Industry has to provide an information set, a data set, to the government to be reviewed. We are providing that data and that information and the test to support substances being new to the market an

Environment committee  That was a very good answer.

Environment committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. On your comments with respect to confidentiality, I think that in our brief we outlined what we felt were adequate provisions in CEPA. I know that the comparison was put forward with respect to the Pest Control Products Act and the differences in that. I th

Environment committee  Yes, we're already doing it.