The Minister of the Environment and The Minister of health approved Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products Regulations (SOR/2021-148), which was published in the Canada Gazette, Part II on July 07,2021, it will come into force from Jan 07,2023, Here are the highlights:

A. Scope：

The Regulations shall apply to the following composite wood products:

(a)  hardwood plywood;

(b)  particleboard;

(c)  medium-density fibreboard;

(d)  thin medium-density fibreboard;

(e)  laminated product.

These Regulations do not apply in respect of:

(a) curved plywood;

(b) finger-jointed lumber;

(c) the following structural wood products in which moisture-resistant adhesives are used:

(i) plywood that complies with sections 6 and 7 of the Canadian Standards Association standard CSA O121, entitledDouglas fir plywood or CSA O151, entitled Canadian softwood plywood, or with section 5 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology standard NIST PS 1, entitled Voluntary Product Standard PS 1 Structural Plywood,

(ii) oriented strand board and panels that comply with section 5 and Appendix GA of the Canadian Standards Association standard CSA O325, entitled Construction sheathing, or with sections 5.2 to 5.4 of the National Institute of Standards and Technology standard NIST PS 2, entitled Voluntary Product Standard PS 2 Performance Standard for Wood Structural Panels,

(iii) composite lumber that complies with sections 4.3 and 6.4 to 6.10.2 of the standard ASTM D5456, entitledStandard Specification for Evaluation of Structural Composite Lumber Products,

(iv) glued-laminated timber that complies with sections 5.1, 5.3, 6.1 to 6.8.1 and 7 of the Canadian Standards Association standard CAN/CSA-O122, entitled Structural glued-laminated timber, or with sections 5 to 7 and 9 to 12 of the American National Standards Institute standard ANSI A190.1, entitled Standard for Wood Products – Structural Glued Laminated Timber,

(v) I-joists that comply with sections 5 and 6.2 to 6.6.3 of the standard ASTM D5055, entitled Standard Specification for Establishing and Monitoring Structural Capacities of Prefabricated Wood I-Joists, and

(vi) cross-laminated timber that complies with sections 5, 6, 7.2 to 7.2.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.5 to 8.5.6.2 and 9.3 of the American National Standards Institute standard ANSI/APA PRG 320, entitled Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber;

(d) hardboard;

(e) spools and packaging, including pallets, crates and dunnage;

(f) composite wood products used in

(i) a vehicle other than a mobile home, motor home or recreational trailer,

(ii) any car or railway equipment that is designed for movement on its wheels on the rails of a railway,

(iii) a vessel, as defined in section 149 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999, or

(iv) an aircraft;

(g) windows that contain a composite wood product that represents less than 5% of the total volume of the window, including the glass;

(h) exterior or garage doors that contain a composite wood product that either represents less than 3% of the total volume of the door or is made only with a no-added-formaldehyde resin or an ultra-low-emitting-formaldehyde resin;

(i) composite wood products that are to be used for research and development activities;

(j) composite wood products that are to be used in a laboratory for analysis, in scientific research or as a laboratory analytical standard;

(k) composite wood products that are manufactured or imported for export only; and

(l) second-hand goods and other finished goods after they have been acquired by a consumer for a purpose other than resale.

B. Formaldehyde emission limits

• 0.05 ppm for hardwood plywood;

• 0.09 ppm for particleboard;

• 0.11 ppm for medium-density fibreboard;

• 0.13 ppm for thin medium-density fibreboard; 

• 0.05 ppm for laminated products.

C. Labelling and Certification requirement 

All composite wood products must be labelled prior to being sold in Canada, or the seller must keep a copy of the label and have it available upon request. Composite wood products that already have a bilingual label indicating compliance with the U.S. Rule will be recognized as compliant with Canadian labelling requirements.

composite wood panels and laminated products must also be certified by a third-party certifier (TPC) prior to import or sale (Composite wood products that have been certified under TSCA Title VI will be accepted as certified under the Regulations).

D. Record keeping requirements

Manufacturers of composite wood panels and laminated products will be expected to keep extensive records of testing, and to make those records available to the Minister of the Environment upon request. Importers and retailers will need to keep statements of certification for their products. Some additional requirements to obtain information from manufacturers exist for importers. In addition, the Regulations will also require all regulated businesses to self-identify by informing the Minister of the Environment of which regulated activity they are involved in and their contact information.

E. Reporting requirements

Every person that manufactures, imports, sells or offers for sale a composite wood product that contains formaldehyde must provide the Minister with the following information in writing:

(a) its name, civic and postal addresses, telephone number and, if any, email address as well as the name of its contact person; 

(b) a statement of whether it manufactures, imports, sells or offers for sale composite wood panels, laminated products, component parts or finished goods, as the case may be.

URL:

https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2021/2021-07-07/html/sor-dors148-eng.html

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