Canadian Revised In-Commerce List for Food and Drug Act (F&DA) Substances

On September 13, 2001 the Minister of Health confirmed the government’s intention to proceed with the development of new environmental legislation for all products regulated under the Food and Drugs Act (F&DA), as these substances would no longer be exempt from the requirements of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA).  These new Environmental Assessment Regulations (EAR) will address the unique properties of these substances and, accordingly, are anticipated to have lower notification trigger levels than chemical substances which are currently notifiable under the New Substances Notification Regulations (NSNR).  

 

The R-ICL is an administrative list of F&DA substances that were identified as having been in Canadian commerce between January 1, 1987 and September 13, 2001 and were therefore not eligible to be grandfathered onto the Canadian Domestic Substances List (DSL). 

 

The R-ICL is a policy-driven inventory that provides a guidepost to improve the understanding of “new” versus “existing” for F&DA-regulated substances in Canada.  The list is a way to recognize that these substances were placed into Canadian commerce in compliance with the regulations at that time but do not meet the timeline eligibility to be grandfathered onto the statutory Domestic Substances List.  Substances listed on the Revised ICL should not experience market interruption in order to comply with the New Substance Notification Regulations (NSNR) of CEPA or the pending Environmental Assessment Regulations (EAR) being developed to specifically address F&DA substances.  A priority assessment program is being developed (either inside or apart from the EAR) to manage any risk that may be associated with substances on this list.

 

It is important to understand whether your substances are contained on the R-ICL as the associated exemption can save your company significant costs and timelines associated with filing under the NSNR.

 

Intertek’s experienced experts can help assess your chemistry and/or interpret your chemical name and complete a thorough search of the R-ICL to determine if your substances are listed, thus allowing you to benefit from the associated exemption.  Should any of the substances in your product not be found on the R-ICL, Intertek can help you develop and implement the most cost-effective and timely notification strategy.