Environment Canada has issued a disclosure obligation mandating reporting for all companies which:
- manufactured,
- imported,
- exported, or
- otherwise used asbestos or asbestos-containing products.
The minimum reporting quantity is five total kilograms of total asbestos during the period from 2013 to 2015. This disclosure is a first step towards the intended complete ban on all forms of asbestos planned for 2018, which is anticipated to contain certain grandfathering provisions for certain sectors’ past use of asbestos. Currently, the manufacturing and use of asbestos-containing products are restricted in Canada. Imports of asbestos-containing products continue to be permissible in Canada.
Asbestos-containing Products Caught by Disclosure Obligation
Asbestos continues to be used in Canada in products such as:
- cement and plaster,
- industrial furnaces and heating systems,
- building insulation,
- floor and ceiling tiles,
- house siding,
- car and truck brake pads, and
- vehicle transmission components such as clutches.
These products containing asbestos are caught by mandatory disclosure and all of the following types of asbestos apply, including chrysotile, amosite, crocidolite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite.
Disclosures Due by 3 pm on January 18
In addition to the asbestos volumes, the disclosures include:
- Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Numbers of the substance manufactured, imported, exported, or used;
- applicable consumer and commercial codes, including, as applicable to known or anticipated final goods containing asbestos; and
- asbestos supplier information.
Confidentiality claims over the disclosures are available from Environment Canada upon request.
