. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/CAN/78
17 October 2003
(03-5514)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original:  English/
                French
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   CANADA
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:   Health Canada
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:
Canadian Enquiry Point, 200-270 Albert St reet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1P 6N7
Tel.:  +1 613 238 3222, Fax.: +1 613 569 7808, E-mail: info@scc.ca
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [   ], 2.10.1 [ X ], 5.6.2 [  ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Yo-yo type balls
(97.200.50)
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Order Amending
Part I of Schedule I to the Hazardous Products Act (Yo-yo type balls) (3 pages in English
and French)
6. Description of content:   The purpose of this initiative is to protect children against the
strangulation hazard posed by yo-yo type balls and similar products. This can be
accomplished by prohibiting the advertising, sale and importation of yo-yo type balls andsimilar products in Canada. Yo-yo type balls and similar products are made of a soft,
extremely pliable plastic and consist of a liquid-filled ball attached to a stretchy plastic cord
that has a finger loop at its end.
The toy presents a strangulation hazard due to the highly stretchable plastic cord which,
when swung overhead, stretches to a great length because of the weight of the ball at its end.When the toy is swung overhead, as childre n like to do, the stretched cord can rapidly
become wrapped around a child’s neck, and, as the cord recoils, it tightens. The resulting
tight wrap and the sticky quality of the plastic cord makes it very difficult to remove, thismay lead to injury or strangulation of a child.
The strangulation hazard posed by yo-yo type balls and similar products is not covered
under the Hazardous Products (Toys) Regulations ; therefore, banning the yo-yo type balls
and similar products from being advertised, sold and imported in Canada is the only
efficient and rapid legal solution.G/TBT/N/CAN/78
Page 2
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:
Protection of human safety
8. Relevant documents:   Canada Gazette, Part II, 9 October 2003
9. Proposed date of adoption: Not stated
Proposed date of entry into force: 2 October 2003          
10. Final date for comments:   Not applicable
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [  X ] or address, telephone and fax
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:
The electronic version of the regulatory text can be downloaded at:
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2003/20031009-x/pdf/g2-137x9.pdf