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Welcome to the fourth installment of ASI's newest e-newsletter, Promogram Canada.

We were happy to get such positive feedback from readers of the initial editions and plan to continue culling together industry news that affects ad specialty suppliers and distributors in the Canadian marketplace.

Please don't hesitate to e-mail me directly with any news pertaining to your company, such as mergers and acquisitions, new hires, awards and accolades received, creative client promotions or new product launches. You can reach me directly at (215) 953-3323 or mbell@asicentral.com.

New Product Safety Rules to Take Effect in Canada
The Canadian Consumer Product Safety Act (CCPSA) will take effect Monday, June 20, meaning manufacturers, sellers and distributors of consumer products who do business in Canada will have to comply with a set of new rules.

The CCPSA mirrors the goals and provisions of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), but is different in a few key ways. For example, the Canadian definition of a consumer product is broader, saying an item is such a product if consumers are likely to obtain it. The U.S. definition states a good is a consumer product if the manufacturer or seller intended or caused to make the product available for use by consumers. The implication? In Canada, a product not intended for consumers that nonetheless finds its way into their hands could be subject to CCPSA guidelines.

The Canadian act specifically includes a number of regulations pertaining to toys and children's jewelry, sleepwear and restraint and booster seats. For example, children's jewelry is prohibited from containing more than 600 mg/kg of lead, not more than 90 mg/kg of which may be migratable lead. Additionally, tight-fitting sleepwear must be treated with a flame retardant that results in flame spread of greater than seven seconds. The list of regulations on toys is very detailed, touching on everything from dolls, steam engines, plant seeds, rattles, elastics, batteries, finger paints and more.

The requirements for reporting a potential safety issue are different in Canada, as well. Unlike the U.S. CPSIA, the Canadian act views a product recall by another country as a trigger for reporting in Canada, despite possible differences in the nations' regulations. In the U.S., products that pose unreasonable risk of serious injury or death must be reported, while in Canada that directive is expanded to include products that could cause serious adverse health effects beyond immediate injury - say, chemical exposure that could lead to cancer.

Additionally, the timelines for reporting and the required content of reports differ in the U.S. and Canada. Depending, manufacturers and sellers essentially have five to 10 days to report an issue in the U.S. In Canada, they must report a problem within two days of learning of it. While the American rules require companies to "inform" authorities of a product hazard or defect, the Canadian act requires that all information the company has on product-related problems must be turned over, raising potential discovery and privilege concerns.

Given the complications, manufacturers, sellers and distributors of consumer products should ramp up efforts to construct a coordinated approach to complying with regulations in the U.S. and Canada. For more information on the Canadian product safety law taking effect next week, click here.

Lockout Tempts Government to Get Involved in the Ongoing Canadian Postal Strike
Many Canadian companies and citizens have been thrown into a frenzy after the recent postal strike efforts led to Canada Post issuing a statewide lockout for the company this past Tuesday. Canada Post locked out 48,000 workers and ceased most services Tuesday after 12 days of walkouts that rotated among major cities.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt says the government is now planning to intervene with negotiations and introduce back-to-work legislation in Parliament next week. If so, a bill could be passed and signed into law as early as Thursday.

Raitt says the negotiations have not been moving along as well as desired. In the meantime, many companies are falling critically behind on shipping and receiving, citizens have not been able to receive government assistance checks and organizations have been stalled on receiving funding and time urgent packages.

As for government assistance, Canada Post announced citizens in the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security, Veterans Affairs Pension Plan, Canada Tax Benefit and Receiver General of Canada will all receive their checks Monday.

Postal workers in major Canadian cities like Montreal, Hamilton and Winnipeg have participated in the postal strike for the past 2 to 3 weeks. Among the major contract sticking points are reduced wages for new employees, accumulation of sick days and safety issues for members working with new mail-processing machines.

Steve Levschuk, owner of Talbot Marketing (asi/341500), says the situation has become very problematic. "With over 20,000 invoices yearly, we rely exclusively on Canada Post for sending them out," he says. "On the flip side, 99% of our accounts receivables come in via Canada Post, so it's just not a good scenario all around." For orders, however, Talbot doesn't use Canada Post, instead opting for UPS or other courier services.

Levschuk isn't particularly optimistic about a resolution any time soon. "From what I last heard, they are miles apart at the negotiating table," he says.

St Regis Crystal Acquires Prestige Glass
Completing its second acquisition in the last 13 months, St Regis Crystal (asi/84595) has purchased fellow Canadian supplier Prestige Glass International (asi/79398). Financial terms of the agreement, which was finalized last week, have not been disclosed. "We're headed toward a custom line of awards, and they're the leaders in the Canadian market," said Jeff Firkser, vice president of sales for St Regis, in an interview with Counselor. "There's so much synergy between our companies and both will benefit through this deal."

Under the terms of the agreement, St Regis and Prestige will continue to maintain separate brands, with current contact information and ASI numbers remaining unchanged. According to Firkser, Prestige President Robert Jackson is leaving the industry to pursue other interests. Otherwise, the full staff at Prestige, including management, will stay in place. Scott Jackson has been named general manager of Prestige, and Tom Guitard will serve as national sales manager. "Having a local North American manufacturing facility within the St Regis Group provides many opportunities for us to support our distributor network, where lead times are continually getting shorter and shorter," Firkser said.

Founded in 1995, Prestige manufactures custom awards using glass, stone, aluminum and other materials. Established in 1999, St Regis supplies awards, recognition products and corporate gifts. In April of last year, St Regis acquired Texas-based supplier The Martin Company (asi/68915). St Regis Group also includes Etching Industries (asi/52770) and St Regis USA (asi/84592).