Counterfeit Personal Protective Equipment

Date: May 4, 2020

Classification: Unclassified

Branch/Agency: CTB/IEB/CBSA

Proposed Response:

If pressed:

Background:

The CBSA conducts examinations of commercial goods to verify or determine that a shipment, transporter, importer, or exporter complies with the laws and regulations administered by CBSA and other government departments.

Commercial goods must meet the import requirements of other government departments. The CBSA has agreements with other government departments to ensure their legislative and regulatory requirements are met at the time of importation of commercial goods. This includes PPE requirements which would fall under the purview of Health Canada.

The CBSA is working closely with Health Canada in administering their Acts and Regulations, such as the Medical Devices Regulations, at the border.

Under the authority of the Customs Act, the CBSA may detain goods, such as medical equipment, suspected of non-compliance. The CBSA may make an admissibility determination regarding the detained goods or the Agency may refer the detained goods to Health Canada for further inspection. A referral does not necessarily mean there is non-compliance, and final release decisions rest with Health Canada in those circumstances.

Health Canada inspectors are present at CBSA international postal centers and commercial examination centers to examine the increased volumes of shipments arriving by air during this pandemic and to aid in interdicting counterfeit and unsafe medical devices.

Health Canada advises the CBSA of their admissibility determination. Should Health Canada determine that the goods are inadmissible, they may be ordered to be removed from Canada or seized by Health Canada. If ordered to be removed, the importer is notified by the CBSA and is responsible for removing the shipment from Canada. If the inadmissible goods are abandoned by the importer, they will be disposed of at the importer’s expense. Health Canada is responsible for any additional enforcement activities under their legislation, such as laying charges.

The CBSA can confirm that some PPE (particularly masks) is being referred for testing to the National Research Council on behalf of Health Canada to ensure that they are safe, meet specifications (eg. N95 mask) and are not fraudulent products.

Shipments found to be fraudulent or otherwise in violation of Canadian law may be referred to the RCMP for investigation. The CBSA cannot provide information on how many shipments of PPEs or COVID-related good have been subject to these processes.

Targeting

Targeting Officers at the CBSA National Targeting Centre (NTC) are applying a pre-arrival risk assessment methodology to ensure that any potential counterfeit PPE shipments are identified at the port of entry for verification by Health Canada Inspectors.

Targets are referred to the applicable CBSA regional management, who will ensure the goods are placed on hold, if required, and an examination is conducted at the shipment’s first point of arrival.

In addition to examination referrals from the NTC, Border Services Officers (BSOs) at ports of entry also play a role in identifying counterfeit PPE. While conducting verifications of commercial goods for release into the Canadian economy, a BSO will use their knowledge and expertise to identify commercial goods for examination.

Contacts:

Prepared by: Fred Gaspar, Director General, [REDACTED]

Approved by: Peter Hill, Vice-President, Commercial and Trade Branch, 613-952-2531; Jacques Cloutier, Vice-President, Intelligence and Enforcement Branch, [REDACTED]

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