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Reference Manual for the WHMIS Requirements of the Hazardous Products Act and Controlled Products Regulations

Table of Contents

CPR Section 5.1 - Flavours and Fragrances

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Flavours and Fragrances

5.1(1)For the purposes of this section.

"flavour" means a product, material or substance that is used solely to impart a taste to another product, material or substance; (saveur)

"fragrance" means a product, material or substance that is used solely to impart a smell to another product, material or substance. (parfum)

(2)The sale or importation of a controlled product that is a flavour or fragrance is exempt, for as long as paragraph 12(b) of the Act is in force, from the application of paragraph 13(a) or 14(a) of the Act in respect of the requirement to disclose on a material safety data sheet the chemical identity and concentration of the ingredients of the controlled product if

  1. the generic chemical identities of the ingredients of the controlled product and the concentrations thereof are disclosed on the material safety data sheet;
  2. the supplier of the controlled product maintains a record of the chemical identities and concentrations of the ingredients of the controlled product at a place in Canada where an inspector may enter at any reasonable time for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of Parts II and III of the Act; and
  3. for the purposes of section 30, the supplier of the controlled product discloses on the material safety data sheet an emergency telephone number by means of which access to the information set out in the record referred to in paragraph (b) may be obtained at any time.

(3)The sale or importation of a controlled product that contains a component that is a flavour or fragrance is exempt, for as long as paragraph 12(b) of the Act is in force, from the application of paragraph 13(a) or 14(a) of the Act in respect of the requirement to disclose on a material safety data sheet the chemical identity and concentration of the ingredients of the component if

  1. the generic chemical identities of the ingredients of the component and the concentrations thereof are disclosed on the material safety data sheet;
  2. the supplier of the controlled product or of the component maintains a record of the chemical identities and concentrations of the ingredients of the component at a place in Canada where an inspector may enter at any reasonable time for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of Parts II and III of the Act; and
  3. the supplier of the controlled product or of the component discloses on the material safety data sheet, in parentheses after the information referred to in paragraph (a), the following information, namely,
    1. the product identifier of the component,
    2. for the purposes of section 30, an emergency telephone number by means of which access to the information set out in the record referred to in paragraph (b) may be obtained at any time, and
    3. a statement to the effect that in a medical emergency, a physician or nurse may obtain the chemical identity and concentration of any ingredient of the component set out in the record maintained pursuant to paragraph (b) by calling the emergency telephone number disclosed under subparagraph (ii) and specifying the product identifier of the component.

(4)Where an inspector obtains information from a record referred to in paragraph (2)(b) or (3)(b), the inspector shall keep the information confidential except for the purposes of the administration and enforcement of Parts II and III of the Act.


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Interpretation / Discussion of Section 5.1

The addition of this section (through Amendment No. 2 to the CPR) established an exemption from the disclosure of the chemical identity and concentration of the ingredients of a controlled product, or component of a controlled product, if that product or component is a flavour or a fragrance. The other ingredients (ie. those that do not constitute a flavour or fragrance) must still be disclosed subject only to exemption under the Hazardous Materials Information Review Act (HMIRA) as specified in the CPR. Initially, it was agreed that the exemption relating to flavours and fragrances will only exist for as long as paragraph 12(b) of the HPA is in force (see below--"Continuation of Exemption...").

The exemption is subject to the condition that the generic chemical identities of the ingredients be disclosed on the MSDS. (The Hazardous Materials Information Review Commission has issued an information bulletin which provides guidance on the use of generic chemical identities.)

The supplier must also maintain a record of the chemical identities and concentrations of the ingredients of the controlled product or component of the controlled product. This information must be provided to a designated inspector upon request so that compliance with the provisions of the regulations can be verified.


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Paragraph 5.1(2)(a):

The concentration of the ingredients that correspond to the generic identities should represent the sum of the concentrations of all the ingredients with the same generic chemical identity.

Paragraphs 5.1(2)(b) and 5.1(3)(b):

When a foreign manufacturer exports flavours or fragrances to a Canadian supplier which is not part of the same company, the manufacturer may want only to entrust the required information to a third party. This amendment was drafted with this situation in mind. The requirement "at a place in Canada", stated in paragraphs 5.1(2)(b) and 5.1(3)(b), is satisfied if the required information is deposited with a third party (such as a legal firm, commercial subsidiary, etc.) anywhere in Canada, and the Canadian supplier is given the address of the third party so that it can be reached at any reasonable time by an inspector.

Continuation of Exemption for Flavours and Fragrances: The tripartite sectoral committee which reviewed the exemptions established by paragraph 12(b) of the HPA recommended that "the special provisions in respect to disclosure of chemical identities of flavours and fragrances, as described in Sections 5.1 of the CPR, be maintained subject to the following modifications:

  1. the current reference to "for as long as paragraph 12(b) of the Act is in force" in subsections 5.1(2) and (3) be removed;
  2. the "generic chemical identities" of the ingredients be listed in place of the actual chemical identities with greater consistency and precision;
  3. clarify that the CAS number, LC50 and LD50, would not be required to be disclosed on the MSDS since the CAS number would, and LD50 could, help reveal trade secret formulations;
  4. modify section 31 of the CPR so that a supplier would be required to provide the source of information for toxicological data used in the preparation of a MSDS only to an inspector on request (and not to users or purchasers) for the purpose of administering and enforcing Parts II and III of the HPA; and
  5. carcinogens as defined by the CPR be disclosed by their chemical identities."
Table of Contents
Date Modified: 2007-12-13

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Important Notices