Canadian Product Safety Pledge

Yesterday, Health Canada launched the Canadian Product Safety Pledge for consumer products and cosmetics sold online.

September 29, 2023

Yesterday, Health Canada launched the Canadian Product Safety Pledge (the Pledge) for consumer products and cosmetics sold online. This initiative represents part of Health Canada's ongoing commitment to protect the health and safety of people in Canada by strengthening the safety of consumer products and cosmetics available to consumers via online marketplaces.

To date, Amazon Canada and eBay Canada have signed and committed to the Pledge. Each of these online marketplaces host third-party sellers of consumer products and cosmetics.

Health Canada encourages additional signatories to the Pledge. Companies interested in joining can contact Health Canada.

The Pledge consists of 14 voluntary commitments that aim is to strengthen product safety online through a combination of preventative and corrective actions.

The Pledge will help reduce the likelihood of prohibited, recalled or non-compliant products being sold to Canadians through signatories' websites. This will be achieved through the signatories' commitments to:

• detect and prevent the sale of unsafe consumer products and cosmetics;
• co-operate with Health Canada when a potentially unsafe product is identified, such as through a recall;
• raise product safety awareness amongst sellers; and,
• empower consumers on product safety issues.

Together, these commitments will help efficiently recognize, prevent, take action against and inform the assessment of risks to the health and safety of consumers.

Signatories will report to Health Canada on the actions taken as a result of the Pledge commitments on an annual basis. Health Canada will publish a report which will include signatories' self-assessment in relation to the Pledge commitments, and the outcomes and effectiveness of their product safety initiatives.

Health Canada will support signatories in their efforts to comply with the Pledge by maintaining and updating the recalls and safety alerts website, and sharing information on emerging product safety issues.

Product safety pledges have been developed in other jurisdictions, including the European Union, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Australia, to protect the health and safety of their consumers. Canada's Product Safety Pledge is consistent with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidance to encourage consistency amongst these pledges.

The Pledge will complement Health Canada's existing authorities under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA) and the Cosmetic Regulations (CR) of the Food and Drugs Act. The CCPSA and the FDA provide the Government with legislative powers to take action to address product safety issues, such as recalling dangerous consumer products from the Canadian market.

Manufacturers, importers, advertisers and sellers of consumer products and cosmetics are responsible for ensuring that their products are safe, that they comply with all of the mandatory requirements under the CCPSA and CR, and that consumer products are not a danger to human health or safety.

Consumers are reminded that they, too, have a role to play in product safety. Products should always be used safely and according to the manufacturer's instructions. Consumers are encouraged to report incidents and safety concerns about consumer products and cosmetics to Health Canada.