A Canadian standard that regulates formaldehyde emissions from wood composite panels that went into effect in January 2023, is undergoing an amendment process to address oversights in the standard.

The oversights, according to the Health Canada government agency, deal with quality testing, record keeping, alignment with U.S. rules, and other issues.

Following the publication of the Formaldehyde Emissions from Composite Wood Products Regulations (the Regulations), stakeholders alerted the Government of Canada (the Government) of a drafting oversight in the Regulations. Amendments are required to address the oversight regarding the quality control testing requirements for composite wood panel manufacturers and to clarify record-keeping, particularly for downstream supply chain regulated parties (e.g. retailers).

In addition, minor amendments are proposed to improve clarity for regulated parties, enhance enforceability by requiring certain records to be kept in Canada, and align the Regulations with changes in the United States (U.S.) Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Title VI was adopted on February 21, 2023.

Amendments

The proposed amendments aim to address the following issues:

Address a drafting oversight by removing the accreditation requirement for laboratories conducting routine quality control formaldehyde emissions testing, to provide clarification for regulated parties and reduce the risk of misinterpretation of the Regulations;

Clarify record-keeping requirements for finished goods along the composite wood products supply chain;

Maintain the Regulations’ close alignment with TSCA Title VI in order to minimize international trade barriers; and

Make minor amendments to provide clarification on issues brought forward by stakeholders.

Quality control testing

Under the Regulations, testing of formaldehyde emissions from composite wood panels is required quarterly using primary testing methods, and at more frequent intervals using quality control testing methods.

The Government’s policy intent for the Regulations was that primary testing must be performed by an accredited laboratory, but that quality control testing typically carried out routinely in production mills would not require to be performed by an accredited laboratory.

While the use of an accredited laboratory is specified for primary testing requirements in section 7(1)(b) of the Regulations, and not specified for quality control testing under section 8(1), section 17 unintentionally requires that “any” formaldehyde emissions testing be performed by an accredited laboratory.

Requiring accredited laboratories for the large volume of quality control tests is out of alignment with TSCA Title VI and not feasible as it would impose an excessive burden on regulated parties. To remove this risk of a potential adverse burden on regulated parties, and align with TSCA Title VI, amendments to the Regulations are proposed so that only the primary testing must be done by an accredited laboratory, while the routine quality control testing conducted within mills could be done using less expensive testing methods.

The timing of the primary testing requirements would enable specimen selection to occur within each designated time period, and all testing and verification requirements to be completed within 90 days. This would better align with the Government policy, whereby primary testing can occur at any time, so long as testing is spread quarterly throughout the year.

Record-keeping

Declarations are produced by composite wood panel and laminated product manufacturers to declare that their products have been tested for formaldehyde emissions by a qualified third-party certifier according to the Regulations, and are below the established limits. This is a key record-keeping requirement passed down and maintained by all regulated parties along the supply chain.

Following the publication of the Regulations, the Government heard from concerned industry stakeholders that collecting and maintaining declarations of certification would pose an excessive burden on importers and sellers of finished goods due to the large number of declarations that can be associated with each finished good item, in addition to the large volume of types of finished goods carried by retailers.

Amendments are proposed to clarify record-keeping requirements for manufacturers, importers and sellers of finished goods. In order to maintain a requirement for a proof of certification of composite wood products, the requirement to collect declarations for each type of composite wood panel within a finished good would be clarified to require a single manufacturer’s attestation affirming that only certified panels were incorporated into the finished good.

Minor amendments

Minor amendments are proposed to clarify certain requirements and correct minor technical aspects in the Regulations. Two amendments related to non-compliant lots are proposed, one clarifying retesting methods and another changing the notification period from “two days” to “72 hours” to correspond to TSCA Title VI.

An amendment is also proposed to indicate that builders/renovators/installers of composite wood products are not considered “sellers” under the Regulations.

Three amendments related to declarations requirements are proposed to (1) require that declarations must be prepared in one or both official languages, (2) remove the requirement that the name of the third-party certifier contact person appears on the declarations, and (3) add the name and address of the mill where the certified product types are manufactured.

Furthermore, to enhance enforceability, minor changes are proposed to require that certain records (such as dates of purchase of composite wood products) be maintained in Canada, rather than being provided within 40–60 days upon request.

Finally, a number of non-substantive amendments are proposed to better align the English and French versions of the regulatory text.

Align with U.S. EPA amendments to TSCA Title VI Rule

On February 21, 2023, the U.S. EPA published final amendments to TSCA Title VI to update voluntary consensus standards, make changes to rules for third-party certifiers and bring the Rule in line with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Regulations for formaldehyde-containing composite wood products.

Given the degree of cross-border trade in composite wood products, the Regulations aim to align with TSCA Title VI. The Government has reviewed the final changes to TSCA Title VI and determined that two of the amendments would impact the Regulations. The proposed CANFERfootnote2 Amendments would incorporate the following U.S. EPA changes which have been adopted into TSCA Title VI:

(1) change the performance standards to qualify for reduced-testing for no-added formaldehyde or ultra-low emitting formaldehyde resins, and

(2) incorporate changes to the equations required to establish equivalence with the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) emission testing methodsfootnote3 located in the Directive Concerning Testing for Formaldehyde Emissions. A draft of the amended Directive may be found on the Government of Canada website.