Ad Hoc Expert Working Group: Environmental Hazard Canadian Implementation of the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) - November 4, 2004

2004

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Meeting Summary

Participants:

Kim Headrick (Chair)
Christina Cowan-Ellsberry
Dave Bennett
Ruth Brydon
Alison McLaughlin
Jim McGeer
Jim Skeaff
Pat Doyle
Lisa Wardell
Abbey Klugerman
Bob Sebastien
Linda Toy
Greg Lawson
David Lamarche
Brenda Everson (Secretariat)

Purpose:

1. To report on the action items from last meeting.
2. To exchange views on whether consumer restricted chemicals, pest control products and workplace chemicals should be subject to the environmental hazard classification criteria and labelling provisions of the GHS

1 Action Items from 9 September meeting

Transport Canada to give update on how the International Marine Dangerous Goods, International Marine Organization and the UN Subcommittee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods are linked and how they work together.

• Transport Canada submitted (3 November), via email to all the WG members, a modified version of the "Preamble" to the 2002 Edition of the IMDG Code to show the link between the IMDG Code, IMO and the UN Sub-Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods. The same general procedure is used for the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Health Canada and Environment Canada to seek legal opinion on legislative authority for environmental labelling on products and opinions on options if authority is not present.

• Work on this has started and an update will be given when available.

Environment Canada, WHMIS and Consumer Restricted Chemicals to explore why there currently is no environmental labelling in their legislation and regulatory framework. Was it a decision or simply not part of the discussions during legislative or regulatory development process?

• All three groups indicated that environmental hazard labelling was not part of the discussions during regulatory development. With regard to the content of regulations for the protection of the environment, Sub-Section 209 (2p) of CEPA deals with labelling and packaging of the substance being regulated or of a product containing the substance.

2 Discussion

• A preliminary discussion took place.
• Based on this, it was decided that further information was required and that a summary in the form of a discussion document would be developed and circulated for comments.

3 Action Items:

• K. Headrick to contact D. Bennett and C. Cowan-Ellsberry for further input and examples for the development of the discussion document.
• K. Headrick to write discussion document for mid-January.

4 Next meeting

• early February 2005