Thank you very much.
As I mentioned, I'm Claire Checkland. I'm with the Canadian Cancer Society's public issues office here in Ottawa. I work on environmental and occupational exposure to carcinogens.
Thank you all so much for inviting us to present to this committee. We're very much looking forward to hearing more about this bill as it proceeds and to expressing to you our particular interests in this bill.
The Canadian Cancer Society is supportive of Bill C-6, and we're particularly pleased about its improved abilities to prevent unsafe products from entering our markets and the government's increased power to recall unsafe products. Of particular interest to the Canadian Cancer Society is the fact that this bill intends to address chronic health effects relating to consumer products as well as acute health effects.
I listened with interest on Tuesday as representatives from Health Canada described this bill, the proposed Canada Consumer Product Safety Act. Early on in their presentation, a representative from Health Canada highlighted that one of the general prohibitions from this bill is that no manufacturer or importer shall manufacture, import, advertise, or sell a consumer product that is dangerous to human health or safety. We all know, though, that there are many products on the market that pose a risk to human health and safety. We all have them in our own homes. And these products will continue to be on the market after this bill is passed.
Some products inherently pose a risk to human health and safety. Many of these products are currently dealt with by existing regulations, the consumer chemicals and containers regulations, from 2001. These regulations ensure that chemical products that pose an acute health risk to consumers are labelled so that consumers are warned of the acute risks associated with the use of the products and are informed of how to use those products as safely as possible. We see these acute health warning symbols on products on the market today, for example the skull and crossbones or the explosives symbol.
Leading up to the consumer chemicals and containers regulations being updated in 2001, extensive discussions occurred about the need for a consumer product labelling system for chronic health risks associated with products. Some chronic health risks that were considered include cancer risks or reproductive toxicity. The idea was that a chronic health risk labelling system could parallel the system that was being updated for acute health risks.
At this time, though, work was ongoing towards the implementation of a worldwide chronic and acute risk labelling system called the globally harmonized system, or GHS. It was decided that for chronic health warnings, we would wait for the GHS.
The Canadian Cancer Society proposes that we not continue to wait for the implementation of the GHS, for which we have already waited more than 10 years, as Bill C-6 poses an opportunity to move forward with chronic health risk labelling now. This could easily be done so that it would comply with and complement Canada's future implementation of the globally harmonized system.
On Tuesday, there were several references to the status of consumer legislation internationally. Several times, both the U.S.A. and the European Union were mentioned. What was not mentioned, however, is that in December, 2008 the European Union passed legislation exacting timelines for the implementation of chronic health risk labelling on consumer products. The European Union continues to corner an increasing share of the market for consumers who want to ensure safety of products that they purchase.
It is also important to mention that while we support the implementation of the GHS, we also recognize its limitations. In Canada, the globally harmonized system will appear only on consumer chemicals and will not appear on a multitude of other products, such as textiles, electronics, or children's toys. Bill C-6, however, would apply to all of those categories and more.
It probably goes without saying that the Canadian Cancer Society, first and foremost, calls for the elimination of cancer-causing substances in products. When elimination is not possible and a carcinogen remains in a product, we call for that substance, or those substances, to be identified through the presence of a hazard symbol as well as a clearly visible statement about the presence of the substance of concern. This statement must be visible to the consumer at point of sale.
The Canadian Cancer Society supports the principle of community right to know and asserts that Canadians have the right to be made aware of harmful substances in their food and consumer products, the air quality in their communities, as well as the health risks found in their workplaces. Community right to know empowers us all to make informed decisions, take action to improve our living conditions, and maintain our personal health and well-being. It enables us to act as informed consumers.
Thank you.