{"id":4566,"date":"2019-09-06T16:14:12","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T20:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/?p=4566"},"modified":"2019-09-06T16:14:12","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T20:14:12","slug":"the-consumer-packaging-and-labelling-act","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearit.ca\/canadian-customs-broker-blog\/the-consumer-packaging-and-labelling-act\/","title":{"rendered":"The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act"},"content":{"rendered":"

When importing items into Canada, it\u2019s usually required that they\u2019re marked and labelled properly. Many of our clients ask \u201cHow do I do this?\u201d and \u201cWhat\u2019s the difference, anyway?\u201d. It can be pretty important to know the answers to those questions. To help you avoid penalties and wasted time at the border, we\u2019ve put together an introductory guide to the <\/span>labelling requirements<\/span> of Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marking:<\/span><\/h2>\n

You might have already heard that imports to Canada need to be marked and labelled. So let\u2019s start with marking. In the customs trade business, marking refers to the indication of a product\u2019s country of origin. This is not necessarily the country it was imported from, but the country it was made in. If you import textiles that were produced in Thailand, the marking should say Thailand. Whether the product is from a NAFTA country (U.S., Mexico, or Canada), or from another foreign country, the marking must be present and it must be in either English, French or Spanish.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the CBSA, the manner of marking must be sufficiently permanent and it must be present even at the point of ultimate purchase. This means that whoever ends up with the final product should be able to see what the country of origin is. The marking can be on the product or the container of the product, though some items may have special requirements. Metal pipes, for example, can have the marking stenciled, moulded or tagged depending on the type of finish on the pipe. For an overview on marking, see the <\/span>Government of Canada website<\/span>.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

For information of specific products, consult this <\/span>CBSA document<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act<\/span>:<\/span><\/h2>\n

Labelling is a little more in-depth than marking. The <\/span>Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act<\/span><\/a><\/span> is a regulatory statute that requires prepackaged consumer products to display accurate and meaningful labelling information to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions. While marking refers to the country of origin, labelling refers to the general information an imported product is required to have. The types of information that fall under \u201clabelling\u201d depend entirely on the kind of product.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The three basic l<\/span>abelling requirements<\/span> that <\/span>all consumer products<\/b> need to adhere to are:<\/span><\/p>\n