Food Packaging Resource Minimization Act

Some key provisions adapted from the Energy Efficiency Act:

Trade in Packaging Products

Interprovincial trade and importation

  • (1) No manufacturer or supplier shall, for the purpose of sale or lease, ship a food packaging product from one province to another province, or import a food packaging product into Canada, unless

    • (a) the product complies with the packaging resource use standard; and

    • (b) the product  is labelled in accordance with the regulations, if any.

Information to be provided by suppliers and dealers

  • (1) Every dealer or manufacturer who ships or imports food packaging source materials or products shall provide the Minister, in the prescribed form and manner and at the prescribed time, with prescribed information respecting those products, including their sources, the extraction methods employed and their environmental certifications, their energy efficiency, their shipment or their importation.
Regulations

  •  (1) The Governor in Council may make regulations

    • (a) prescribing as food packaging product any manufactured product, or class of manufactured products, that is designed to protect food, facilitate its transport, and provide information about that food (primary, secondary and tertiary packaging);

    • (b) prescribing resource and energy efficiency standards for said food packaging products, including recycled content requirements, and which packaging must only be made with approved biomaterials;

    • c) respecting the labelling of the environmental performance of food packaging products or classes of packaging products;

    • d) providing for the testing of food packaging products to determine their resource consumption efficiency;

    • e) respecting the detention of things seized and detained; and

    • f) respecting the disposition or destruction of anything forfeited.

Technical standards

  •  (1) technical standards document means a document that is published in both official languages by the Minister and that adapts, combines or reproduces, in whole or in part, documents that are produced by jurisdictions, standards development organizations or industry associations and that, for energy-using products or classes of energy-using products, set out requirements or guidance related to those requirements. The technical standards document contains the requirements that give this Act and Regulations force.

 

Promotion of Resource Efficiency and Alternative Packaging material Sources
Powers of Minister

The Minister may, for the purpose of promoting the resource efficiency of food packaging,

      • a) conduct, or cooperate with persons conducting, research, development, tests, demonstrations and studies;

      • b) publish information, research or test results;

      • c) assist, cooperate with, consult and enter into agreements with any person, including any department or agency of the Government of Canada or of any province;

      • d) make grants and contributions; and

      • e) undertake such other projects, programs and activities as in the Minister’s opinion advance that purpose.