Description

The proposed amendment includes the following modifications:

1. Amend Item 25 of Part II, Schedule I of the HPA from “Standard cribs, portable cribs and cradles” to “Cribs, cradles and bassinets” to broaden the definition of a crib. This would eliminate the distinction between standard and portable cribs, and would include bassinets within scope of the Regulations;

2. Include bassinets and requirements relating to their required information (packaging and labelling) and construction and performance (flammability, side height, static load, shearing and pinching hazards, etc.);

3. Eliminate toeholds that could enable a young child to climb out of a crib and fall to the floor causing a risk of injury;

4. Establish the same side-height and performance requirements for portable and standard cribs, thereby eliminating any distinction between portable and standard cribs;

5. Establish a minimum side-height barrier of 230 mm that must be maintained at all times for all crib, cradle and bassinet products;

6. Include additional warning requirements for cribs and cradles regarding blind cord proximity, moveable sides and substituting parts;

7. Amend the reference to the flammability standard, D 1230-61, Standard Method of Test for Flammability of Clothing Textiles, a standard of the American Society for Testing and Materials, by replacing it with the Canadian General Standards Board standard CAN/CGSB 4.2, NO. 27.5-2008, Textile Test Methods — Flame Resistance — 45° Angle Test — One Second Flame Impingement; and

8. Include a requirement specifying that manufacturers or importers must maintain records relating to the sale, advertisement and testing of crib, cradle and bassinet products for a period of at least three years.

In response to stakeholder requests, the proposed amendment would also

1. clarify the definitions of moveable crib sides, as well as clearly establishing which products fall within the scope of the Regulations; and

2. align aspects of the Canadian requirements with those of the United States concerning the safety of crib corner post extensions and cut-outs to allow a greater range of design without jeopardizing the safety of these products.

Regulatory and non-regulatory options considered

Status quo

Maintaining the status quo was rejected because it was determined that these regulatory changes were required in order to afford young children in Canada with an enhanced level of safety with respect to the use of cribs, cradles and bassinets. If these proposed amendments to the Cribs and Cradles Regulations are not made, potentially unsafe cribs, cradles and bassinets might be available to Canadian consumers.

Adoption of a voluntary standard

This alternative was rejected because the Cribs and Cradles Regulations provide a level of safety that is not achieved in any comparable voluntary standard. Furthermore, Health Canada would not have the ability to amend any adopted voluntary standard. Therefore, if a previously unregulated hazard emerged, Health Canada would be unable to take appropriate action to ensure that this hazard was safeguarded against unless the Department enacted legislation that superseded or was in addition to the voluntary standard. It was decided that the Regulations would instead be amended to include certain requirements from various voluntary standards and international legislation. There are particular requirements in voluntary standards that were identified as adding further safety measures to the Regulations while the adoption of others would serve to diminish the existing requirements.

Adoption of the proposed amended Regulations

This is the preferred method of ensuring that crib, cradle and bassinet products that are available to the Canadian public afford young children an adequate level of safety. The proposed regulatory amendment aims to clarify certain aspects of the existing Regulations, as well as putting in place more stringent safety requirements concerning toeholds and side height. Additionally, this option includes requirements for bassinets, a provision regarding record keeping and warning requirements relating to blind cord proximity, moveable sides and substituting parts.

Benefits and costs

The primary benefit of these proposed amendments is the enhanced safety of young children using crib, cradle and bassinet products. The proposed amendments would include requirements for bassinets, which had previously been unregulated. This may lead to an increase in costs for manufacturers and importers. However, most of the bassinets on the market should already be conforming with a number of the performance requirements because the same or similar requirements are found in the American voluntary standard. Furthermore, this amendment would require warnings alerting caregivers to the hazards associated with the use of these products, which would provide valuable safety information to the consumer.

The majority of head injuries related to the use of cribs are the result of falls from cribs. The proposed amendment should lead to a decrease in falls from cribs by increasing the side height for portable cribs, by including a warning statement regarding the appropriate adjustment position for moveable sides when a young child is left unattended, and by eliminating toeholds from cribs. This would ultimately lead to a decrease in health care costs.

Over the last 12 years, toeholds have gradually been eliminated from crib designs. Given that manufacturers modify crib designs on a regular basis, the elimination of toeholds should not involve an increase in manufacturing costs. Furthermore, this requirement is already present in American legislation. Therefore, American manufacturers that sell, import or advertise their cribs in Canada would already be conforming with this requirement.

While the proposed regulatory changes for portable cribs would lead to an increase in manufacturing costs, the portable crib market in Canada represents only a fraction of the crib market in Canada. Health Canada is not aware of any portable cribs being sold by any of the major retailers of children’s products across Canada. Furthermore, the benefits to young children using portable cribs would be greatly increased because they would be afforded the same level of safety as young children using standard cribs.

Health Canada has received reports of strangulation incidents with respect to blind and curtain cords, fall-related injuries due to moveable sides being left in positions unsuitable for unattended young children and a variety of injuries relating to the substitution of product components. The inclusion of warning statements regarding blind cord proximity, moveable sides and substituting parts would serve to further inform caregivers of the dangers that can be created if proper safety precautions are not adhered to.

Furthermore, greater alignment of the Regulations with the requirements of the United States would facilitate stakeholder compliance since many manufacturers are already conforming with these requirements. This should also reduce the costs to industry since many manufacturers sell their products in both Canada and the United States. Those amendments to the Regulations that do not further align with the requirements of the United States have been deemed to be necessary in order to adequately safeguard young children against the hazards associated with the use of cribs and cradles. These amendments should result in a fairly negligible increase in manufacturing costs.

Test method D 1230-61, the Standard Method of Test for Flammability of Clothing Textiles, a standard of the American Society for Testing and Materials, was originally incorporated by reference in order to protect the Canadian public from the flammability hazards associated with specific products. This standard has been revised several times in the last 45 years, and the original 1961 version is only available in English and is out of date. An identical bilingual standard, CAN/CGSB 4.2 NO. 27.5-2008, Textile Test Methods — Flame Resistance — 45° Angle Test — One Second Flame Impingement, was published by the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) in 1994 and amended in July 2008.

Referencing the CGSB standard would provide the Canadian industry with a current, bilingual and accessible standard. Additionally, this technical amendment would continue to maintain the level of protection to the Canadian public from the flammability hazards associated with specified products. Furthermore, this initiative would result in no new costs to industry or the Government since the same requirements are set out in the CGSB standard, thereby allowing for existing compliance and enforcement mechanisms.

The proposed requirement regarding record keeping should not lead to an increase in costs for manufacturers and importers. The majority of crib, cradle and bassinet manufacturers should already be maintaining similar records. Furthermore, this record-keeping requirement is essentially the same as the record keeping that is required by American crib legislation. Therefore, the American companies that sell, import or advertise their crib in Canada should currently be conforming to this requirement.

No additional capital or operating and maintenance costs for the Government are anticipated for the proposed amendments. Monitoring and compliance activities would be part of the Product Safety Programme’s regular enforcement program.

Rationale

The health and safety of young children are of great importance because these children are a very vulnerable group of the population and need the highest degree of protection. Amending the Cribs and Cradles Regulations would further ensure that the Government of Canada is doing its utmost to protect the health and safety of young children using cribs, cradles and bassinets.

Currently, the sale, advertisement and importation of bassinets are not regulated in Canada. This proposed amendment would include bassinets within the scope of the Regulations. Since the use of bassinets has increased in recent years, the inclusion of requirements relating to their required information, construction and performance would enhance the protection afforded to bassinet users.

The proposed amendments would clarify the definitions relating to cribs, cradles and bassinets. In the past, stakeholders have expressed confusion regarding the types of crib and cradle products that fall within the scope of the current Regulations. Therefore, stakeholders would benefit from the clarifications to the definitions.

The elimination of the distinction between standard and portable cribs would ensure that both types of cribs afford an equivalent level of safety by requiring the same height and performance requirements. Establishing a minimum side-height barrier of 230 mm that must be maintained at all times for cribs, cradles and bassinets, and eliminating toeholds from cribs would reduce the risk of falls and head injuries, which provides added protection for young children using these products.

These proposed Regulations would provide warning statements for caregivers, regarding the use of cribs and cradles, which would alert them to further safety precautions that should be taken into account. For example, Health Canada is aware of a number of deaths of young children due to blind and curtain cord strangulation. The proposed amendment would include a warning cautioning caregivers against placing a crib, cradle or bassinet near windows or patio doors. This should lead to a decrease in blind cord-related incidents. The proposed amendments also include a requirement regarding the substitution of parts. Since Health Canada has received complaints of injuries due to the substitution of crib component parts, this should lead to a decrease in crib-related injuries.

The flammability standard that is currently referenced in the Regulations is only available in English and is out of date. The standard that the proposed amendments reference is a bilingual Canadian standard that is currently available from the CGSB.

A requirement specifying that all records relating to the sale, advertisement and testing of crib, cradle and bassinet products for a specific period of time must be kept for a period of three years and presented to Product Safety Officers within 15 days if requested would allow Health Canada to monitor the crib, cradle and bassinet market more effectively and determine whether or not manufacturers have had their products tested to the specifications of the Regulations.

Consultation

On February 26, 1994, a proposed amendment to the Cribs and Cradles Regulations, which sought to separate the requirements for cribs from those for cradles into two distinct regulations, was pre-published in the Canada Gazette, Part I. However, this proposed amendment was ultimately withdrawn and, accordingly, was never published in the Canada Gazette, Part II. An information package and letter seeking comments on the 1994 proposed amendment was sent to 146 interested parties, including industry (manufacturers, retailers, importers and the industry association), the Consumers’ Association of Canada, as well as other organizations, such as the Canadian Paediatric Society and the Canadian Institute of Child Health. Since no concerns regarding cradles were raised by stakeholders, appropriate modifications were made only with respect to the requirements for cribs. The current amendment to the Cribs and Cradles Regulations has taken into account the comments received in 1994 and maintains a combined regulatory initiative for cribs and cradles.

Early notice for this present amendment was provided through pre-publication in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on May 1, 2004. A letter was sent to interested parties advising them of the prepublication and inviting them to provide comments. Two main issues emerged from the responses received during the 75-day comment period:

• the allowance of crib corner posts of 406 mm or more in subsection 29(2) failed to adequately safeguard children against the hazards of head entrapment and strangulation; and
• the change in the side-height requirement, which was established in section 26, from 230 mm to 380 mm, represents a radical change and creates a disharmony with American standards.

It was agreed that subsection 29(2) must be amended in order to clearly state that crib corner posts of 406 mm or more were allowed if, and only if, they were designed in such a way to preclude the occupant from the hazards of head entrapment and strangulation.

In the previous pre-publication of the proposed Regulations on May 1, 2004, in the Canada Gazette, Part I, a technical error was made in section 26 wherein the side-height requirement for cribs was erroneously transcribed as 380 mm. (As previously stated, these proposed Regulations were ultimately withdrawn and never became law.) The correct value that should have been published was 230 mm and this correct value (230 mm) is employed in this publication of the Canada Gazette.

Other minor and editorial modifications have also been made as a result of the comments received by interested parties.

In May 2007, an information package and letter were sent to 64 interested parties, including retailers, manufacturers, importers and testing laboratories. This information package was also posted on Health Canada’s Web site. Interested parties were invited to provide comments on the proposal. One comment was received. The interested party stated that they would wait to review the proposed Regulations before making a formal comment on the proposal.

Implementation, enforcement and service standards

These proposed amendments would not result in any major changes to Health Canada’s enforcement activities. Health Canada’s Product Safety Officers would be able to access a product’s manufacture and importation history, as well as determine whether or not the company has had its product tested to the requirements of the Regulations. Additionally, compliance and enforcement would be facilitated by the clearer Regulations laid out by the amendment.

Compliance and enforcement of the proposed amendments would continue to follow established departmental policy and procedures, including inspection at retail and follow-up on complaints made by the Canadian public and trade. Action taken for non-compliance would range from negotiation with stakeholders, including traders, for the voluntary withdrawal of products from the market to prosecution under the HPA.