RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.9
22January 1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-0222)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: CANADA
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Health Canada
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Tobacco products
5. Title andnumber ofpages ofthenotified document: Proposed Amendments tothe
Tobacco Products Control Regulations
6. Description ofcontent:
On21September 1995, theSupreme Court ofCanada ruled thatmany sections
oftheTobacco Products Control Actinfringed theCanadian Charter ofRights and
Freedom andinvalidated these. Asdescribed inthedocument "Tobacco Control: A
Blueprint toProtect Health ofCanadians", theMinister ofHealth intends toputforward
legislative measures tofillthevoid resulting from theruling. Thefirstofthese
measures istoreinstate therequirements forhealth messages andtoxic constituent
information ontobacco products packaging.
Theruling oftheSupreme Court ofCanada indicates thattheGovernment is
justified inrequiring tobacco manufacturers toplace health messages onthetobacco
products packaging. However, because onecannot beobliged tosaysomething he/she
does notwant under theCanadian Charter ofRights andFreedom, theGovernment
could notrequire thatthese messages beunattributed.
./.G/TBT/Notif.96.9
Page2
6. Description ofthecontent: (cont'd)
Thehealth messages andthetoxic constituent information isconsidered tobea
keyelement oftheFederal Government 'sstrategy toreduce tobacco consumption among
Canadians. Consequently, once theActisamended toreinstate therequirements for
health messages andtoxic constituent information, including provisions forattribution of
thehealth messages, theTobacco Products Control Regulations needtobeamended to
specify thecontent andlocation oftheattribution onthepackages oftobacco products.
Nochanges areproposed tothecurrent requirements regarding thecontent, position,
configuration, sizeandprominence ofthehealth messages other thantheaddition ofthe
attribution toHealth Canada. Attached aretheproposed amendments totheRegulations
toputineffect these provisions. Thesizeandlocation oftheattribution arespecified
fordifferent types oftobacco products. Minor modifications totheRegulations arealso
proposed tocorrect inconsistencies andtorepeal outdated provisions.
7. Objective andrationale: Protection ofhealth
8. Relevant documents: Health Protection Branch Information Letter No. 817,
12December 1995
9. Proposed dateofadoption andentry intoforce: Notstated
10. Final dateforcomments: 30March 1996
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: