Thank you, Mr. Chair.
We need to be clear that the in-commerce list is purely an administrative list that we developed at Health Canada and Environment Canada to identify the substances that were in commerce from January 1, 1987, to September 2001. Those 9,000 substances do not currently meet the legal definition of an existing substance under the act. As such, they are considered to be new substances, although they have been in commerce for some 20 years.
The in-commerce list does not have any legal status under CEPA. One of the issues we're trying to grapple with is that we're facing the very daunting task right now of possibly having to conduct environmental assessments on all 9,000 substances, assuming that they are out of compliance with CEPA. We are more than willing to look at other mechanisms, working closely with industry and with Environment Canada, including the possibility of recognizing the in-commerce list as a legal instrument that would help us to more efficiently and more effectively manage those 9,000 substances.