On February 1, 2018, Environment and Climate Change Canada opened a public consultation on proposed changes to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations.
The amendments are organized into nine sub-sections 3.1 through 3.9 as shown in Table 3. The public consultation is open until April 2, 2018. The “Consultation document: Proposed amendments to the Products Containing Mercury Regulations” is available on the Environment Canada website[1].
Table 3: Amendments to the Canadian Mercury Regulation
| Title | Summary of Changes |
|---|---|
| 3.1 Alignment with the requirements under the Minamata Convention | Reduced levels of mercury in exemptions for fluorescent lamp to comply with Minamata convention |
| 3.2 Amendments to further align with initiatives abroad | Alignment of exemptions for mercury in lamps with EU RoHS Directive Removal of exemption for mercury in compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) by 2023 (this will essentially ban CFLs from sale in Canada) |
| 3.3 Amendments to the automobile headlamps exemption (item 9 of the schedule) | Removal of exemption of mercury in automobile headlamps by 2024 |
| 3.4 Amendments to the non-applications (section 2 of the regulations) | Clarification that pest control lamps are included in the restrictions Exclusion of import of products for own personal use |
| 3.5 Adjustments to certain elements of the labelling requirements (sections 8 and 9 of the regulations) | Clarification to labelling requirements, including - use of both official languages - Hg symbol - New requirement to identify component containing mercury |
| 3.6 Amendments to testing requirements to broaden the accreditation bodies recognized under the regulations (section 10 of the regulations) | Broaden accreditation bodies for test laboratories |
| 3.7 Amendments to the reporting requirements (section 12 of the regulations) | Changes to reporting requirements with Canadian address and export quantity |
| 3.8 Amendments to the record keeping requirements (sections 14 to 16 of the regulations) | New requirements for record keeping to track quantity of products exported and to allow electronic records |
| 3.9 Adjustments to clarify certain exemptions in the schedule of the regulations | Clarification of exemptions for lab test reference materials and replacement parts. |
[1] Proposed amendments to mercury regulation, https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/canadian-environmental-protection-act-registry/products-mercury-regulations-proposed-amendments.html