Although the vast majority of composite wood products currently produced and sold in Canada already comply with TSCA Title VI, CANFER’s current departure from full alignment with TSCA Title VI will result in excessive NEW BURDENS being placed on every member of the supply chain from the manufacturer to the final retailer. 

Unlike TSCA Title VI, CANFER has a chain of custody requirement to pass all certifications from the

original panel manufacturer through the entire supply chain to the retailer who must then maintain

a physical “library” of declarations at their facilities. 
 

• A small flooring or furniture retailer might be forced to collect, keep, and update 50 to 100 certificates covering all potential composite wood panel utilized by their supply chain. 

• A bigger building supply company would have to track every supply chain of every supplier of every product. 

• A small cabinet shop would have to track the manufacturer of the panels they utilize and potentially provide each customer with those records.

• As the definition of seller currently does not specifically exclude construction companies (unlike TSCA Title VI), a builder would need to maintain records for every regulated floor or cabinet, etc. utilized. 

• Even thrift shops are not currently exempted despite the impossibility of knowing the origin of donated goods. 

This is an unacceptable burden on retail businesses, both large and small.  It is a violation of supply chain confidentiality for distributors, importers and fabricators. It also violates the confidentiality of suppliers who have not given permission to share their supply chain with others, potentially exposing you to litigation. There is a much simpler and more meaningful record-keeping system aligned with TSCA Title VI that would make each part of the supply chain responsible for their immediate business.

In addition to the impractical chain of custody requirement, there are also numerous minor technical conflicts between TSCA Title VI and CANFER; testing and administrative ambiguities that could lead to problems for manufacturers and laminators around the world.  See a list of issues and recommended solutions here.  It is vital we eliminate regulatory confusion.

THESE ARE OUR PRINCIPAL MESSAGES
 

• The industry welcomes the regulation. The requests are for administrative fixes only, to align CANFER and TSCA Title VI where possible.

• The technical issues must be fixed to ensure that the regulated industries understand their exact responsibilities under the rules.

• The regulation as it stands is unduly burdensome for Canadian small businesses and those doing business in Canada. The burden of maintaining extensive records from complicated supply chains will land most heavily on retailers and small laminators, who do not have any experience in this area.

• The regulation represents a violation of supply chain confidentiality and exposes both immediate and extended proprietary information to competitors. Further, the requirement to share a suppliers’ supply chains may violate confidentiality agreements.

• The regulation increases confusion within the marketplace as a retailer who receives dozens of supply chains from various suppliers could very easily mix supplier information.

• Alignment with TSCA Title VI’s record-keeping will provide for better enforcement.

Spread the word!   Many smaller retailers and fabricators may not be familiar with the terms “CARB”, “TSCA Title VI” and “CANFER”.  If you need to educate your customers about the importance of supporting this campaign, please download this flyer for small businesses.