On February 4, 2011, the United States and Canada formed the U.S.-Canadian Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) to facilitate closer regulatory cooperation between both countries. Working together under the auspices of the RCC, regulatory agencies in the United States and Canada develop Joint Action Plans to increase regulatory cooperation and their respective regulatory systems into further alignment.
Building off of the Joint Action Plan, OSHA is working to develop a specific work plan to address workplace chemicals and the implementation of the GHS in the United States and Canada. OSHA proposed the following three objectives:
- Continue to reduce and prevent U.S.-Canada variances through ongoing collaboration of our guidance materials (following the principles set out in the Memorandum of Understanding with Health Canada);
- Coordinate common positions in advance of United Nations (UN) and other international discussions on the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS); and
- Align U.S.-Canadian positions on future updates and implementation of the GHS (e.g., development and adoption of future revisions of the purple book).
In its comments, ACA supported the agency’s proposed objectives and forward-looking approach to collaboration with Health Canada. However, ACA believes the RCC Joint Action Plan should include a firm commitment by both countries to adopt the same version of the GHS at the same time in the future. ACA noted that if both countries do not adopt the GHS in unison, market disruption and “disharmonization” will occur every time either country adopts and implements an update to the GHS.
In addition to commenting on the objectives, ACA asked OSHA to work with Health Canada to resolve industry’s immediate concerns with the current implementation of GHS. In particular, ACA’s comments urged OSHA to provide clarity regarding its policy to exercise enforcement discretion, considering the flow of hazard communication materials for chemical mixture manufacturers who cannot classify their products due to the lack of flow of SDS in the distribution chain under the 2012 Hazard Communication Standard (HCS 2012). ACA’s comments also noted a number of inconsistences between the U.S. and Canadian regulations for workplace chemicals, and pressed OSHA to coordinate with Health Canada to resolve variances through the use of appropriate guidance. Lastly, ACA asked the agency to release guidance on shipping product into Canada to ensure that products labeled under the GHS scheme may pass freely across the border.
ACA is continuing to work with OSHA and Health Canada, through its counterpart the Canadian Paint and Coatings Association, to facilitate the transition to GHS and resolve inconsistencies between the HCS 2012 in the United States and the Hazardous Product Regulation in Canada.
Contact ACA’s Stephen Wieroniey or Tim Serie for more information.
