Federal government relaunches consumer product safety bill

The federal government has reintroduced a bill that would give it more power to take action against unsafe products, including fines of up to $5 million for some offences.

The fines, however, would only follow a successful criminal prosecution. 

The fine approach would be the most extreme of a four-level enforcement system, and would start with a voluntary request for compliance, then a government order to recall a product, an administrative penalty and finally criminal prosecution.

The Canada consumer product safety act, in passed, would "modernize and strengthen product safety laws by overhauling existing rules," Health Canada said in a news release.

The government decided to update the legislation because of the large number of high-profile recalls, the age of the existing act — it dates from 1969 — and a need to be in step with trading partners.

"It strengthens compliance promotion and enforcement activities through increased fines up to $5 million for some offences, and fines that are left to the discretion of the courts where the offence is committed with knowledge or recklessly," the department said.

Fines now can range up to $250,000.

A bill of the same name died last fall when the election was called, but it may have been changed, a department spokesman said. The former bill had received second reading and been referred to committee.

The bill does not cover food, drugs, natural health products and cosmetics, which fall under the Food and Drug Act.

It aims to:

• Catch problems before they start.
• Target the highest risks.
• Move quickly when a problem occurs.

The act forbids the manufacture, import, advertisement or sale of consumer products that pose an "unreasonable danger" to human health or safety.

Suppliers would have to report serious product-related incidents and companies would have to keep accurate records so products can be easily traced, especially when they're recalled, the release said.

Suppliers would have to "identify and systematically assess safety risks, develop standards and share best practices."

The department said it would monitor products that may pose a risk in the future, and the minister could order suppliers to do safety tests if there are indications of a problem.

Health Canada said it would provide consumers more information, such as material on the selection and safe use of products, choosing age-appropriate toys and understanding product labels.

It might also double the number of product safety inspectors over the next five years.

Product recalls worry consumers, and the number of children's products recalled last year rose about 40 per cent, despite assurances from Ottawa that it was addressing the problem.