Progress made on easing Interprovincial trade regulations
June 15, 2020Eliminating interprovincial trade barriers that impact retail business in Canada has been and remains a major RCC member priority and RCC has continually pushed for advancement in several key areas. These include a harmonized approach to labelling upholstered and stuffed articles, a national standard for occupational health and safety requirements, harmonized environmental stewardship programs, and various transportation requirements, to name a few.
RCC is pleased to see the Regulatory Reconciliation and Cooperation Table (RCT) make significant progress on some of these key interprovincial trade issues. Reducing the number of overlapping requirements for retailers makes doing business easier across provincial borders and helps get products to market faster and with less compliance costs.
RCC wins
Upholstered and Stuffed Articles Regulation: Both Ontario and Manitoba have agreed to revoke their Upholstered and Stuffed Articles Regulations and Québec has agreed to undertake a comparative review of their measures to determine if material differences exist.
These are duplicative labelling requirements of current federal legislation and regulations (the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act and the Toys Regulation under that Act; and the Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations under the Textile Labelling Act) and are an unnecessary burden on business.
Occupational Health and Safety: Some jurisdictions have signed a reconciliation agreement that requires them to make regulatory or legislative changes and is expected to be implemented by spring 2020. These changes include occupational health and safety standards for first-aid kits, head protection, eye and face protection, hearing protection, foot protection, and personal flotation devices and life jackets. This agreement will simplify regulatory requirements for organizations, allowing them to work more seamlessly across multiple jurisdictions without compromising health and safety protections for workers.
Next Steps
RCC will continue to push for greater trade in Canada and looks forward to advancing the 2020 Workplan, which includes workplace first aid training, transportation issues, and food/meat inspection requirements.
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