Regulations Amending the Tobacco Products Information Regulations

The Tobacco Products Information Regulations (TPIR) establish the requirements for information that must be displayed on tobacco products that are for retail sale in Canada. They ensure that tobacco products display health warning messages, health information messages and information about their toxic emissions or constituents in a way that is easily legible and, where specified, in colour. The proposed Regulations Amending the Tobacco Products Information Regulations serve three main purposes: to remove the application of the TPIR to cigarettes and little cigars, to respond to issues identified by Parliament's Standing Joint Committee on Scrutiny of Regulations (SJCSR) and to remove the obligation to list numerical values for toxic emissions.

The proposed new Tobacco Products Labelling Regulations (Cigarettes and Little Cigars) (TPLR-CLC) would specify labelling requirements for health warnings, health information messages and toxic emissions statements for packages of cigarettes and little cigars. Therefore, the applicability of the TPIR to these tobacco products would have to be removed concurrently with the coming into force of the TPLR-CLC.

The SJCSR identified problems in the TPIR with respect to redundant language, clarity and consistency and to errors in terminology. The numerical values for toxic emissions are being removed in response to research conducted for Health Canada that indicates that they are not clearly understood by some smokers.

Public Consultations

Prepublication in Canada Gazette, Part I

The proposed  Regulations Amending the Tobacco Products Information Regulations and the associated Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) were prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I on February 19, 2011.

How to Get Involved

This consultation is open for comment starting February 19, 2011 until May 5, 2011. Please submit your comments via email, by fax or in writing to:

pregs@hc-sc.gc.ca

TPIR Consultations
Manager, Regulations Division
Office of Regulations and Compliance
Controlled Substances and Tobacco Directorate
Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch
Health Canada
MacDonald Building, Address Locator: 3507C1
123 Slater Street
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0K9

Fax: (613) 941-1551

Interested parties may submit comments for consideration by Health Canada until May 5, 2011.

Additional Information

Health Canada has previously pre-published the Regulations Amending the Tobacco Products Information Regulations in Canada Gazette Part I on May 31, 2008.