Good morning, Mr. Chair, and members of Parliament. It's a pleasure to be here today to provide our perspective to the committee's review of Bill C-13.
My name is Shannon Coombs and I'm the president of the Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association. For 18 years I've proudly represented the many accomplishments of our proactive and responsible industry.
Today, I provided the clerk with a copy of our one-pager “Imagine Life Without Us?”, which illustrates the many types of products that CCSPA represents. I'm sure many of you have used them today.
We're a national trade association representing 35 member companies across Canada, collectively, a $20-billion industry employing around 12,000 people in over 87 facilities across the country. Our companies manufacture, process, package, and distribute consumer, industrial, and institutional specialty products, such as soaps and detergents, domestic pest control products, aerosols, hard-surface disinfectants, deodorizers, and automotive chemicals, or as I call it, everything under the kitchen sink. We are the downstream users of chemicals, as our products are generally based on the chemistry developed by the upstream companies.
I'd also like to take a moment, Mr. Chair, to thank the MPs around the table who assisted CCSPA with our education campaign in the spring on lyme awareness, “Don't be ticked off by ticks”, and on our fall campaign to educate children on the importance of handwashing. I hope that the education kits that CCSPA and the Canadian Institute of Child Health delivered to you last week were put to good use in your ridings.
Why are we here today? Bill C-13 amends six pieces of legislation to meet our trade obligations under WTO's agreement on trade facilitation. Five of the acts impact members of CCSPA. That legislation includes the Food and Drugs Act, the Hazardous Products Act, the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, the Pest Control Products Act, and the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act.
CCSPA and our members support the World Trade Organization's agreement on trade facilitation; however, we believe some of the amendments drafted to ensure that Canada meets our obligations for the provision of in transit.... Am I speaking too fast? I got in trouble from the translators last time.