The Government of Canada Announces New Regulations and a Ban on Harmful Single Use-Plastics

The Government of Canada has moved forward a comprehensive plan to ban harmful single-use plastics and keep them out of the environment. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, and the Minister of Health, the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, published the final regulations to prohibit single-use plastics as detailed in the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations (SUPPR), which include: 

• checkout bags; 
• cutlery; 
• foodservice ware made from or containing problematic plastics that are hard to recycle; 
• ring carriers; 
• stir sticks; and 

• straws (with some exceptions). 

The ban on the manufacture and import of these harmful single-use plastics, barring a few targeted exceptions to recognize specific cases, will come into effect in December 2022. To provide businesses in Canada with enough time to transition and to deplete their existing stocks, the sale of these items will be prohibited as of December 2023. The Government will also prohibit the export of plastics in the six categories by the end of 2025, making Canada the first among peer jurisdictions to do so internationally. 

This measure is an important contribution to Canada’s ongoing comprehensive agenda to address plastic waste and pollution. This measure puts Canada among world leaders in fighting plastic pollution and will help to meet the commitments of the Ocean Plastics Charter and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).   

Please visit the Government of Canada website for more information. 

 

Affected importers should carefully note this information and consider any import adjustments as needed. 

 

For additional information and assistance, please contact our Canadian Customs Advisory Services team or your local Delmar Representative.