The Canadian government has amended Schedule 2 to the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act to prohibit effective from 23 October 2014 the production, sale and importation of products made wholly or partly of polyurethane foam that contain tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and are intended for children under three years of age because that chemical is believed to have the potential to cause harmful effects. TCEP is a carcinogen for which there may be a probability of harm at any level of exposure, with children considered to be more susceptible to its harmful effects as a result of their physiological status. Canadian authorities believe that migration of TCEP from polyurethane products as a result of young children's mouthing behaviour may contribute to oral exposure.

The Canadian government notes that this prohibition, which will include consumer products such as toys, sleep positioners and nursing pillows made of polyurethane foam, is not anticipated to pose any adverse trade impacts because other jurisdictions, including the United States and the European Union, are considering or have taken similar action. Global production and use of TCEP has been in decline since the late 1980s as its historic use in rigid and flexible polyurethane foam has been substituted by other phosphate ester flame retardants. It is estimated that TCEP consumption in 2010 was less than two percent of what it was two decades ago. The only North American manufacturer of TCEP ceased production in 2009 and the only European producer stopped production in November 2010. However, there are indications that TCEP may continue to be manufactured in Asia.

The following products are included in Schedule 2 in addition to TCEP-containing polyurethane foam.

• Jequirity beans (abrus precatorius) or any substance or article that is made from or that includes jequirity beans in whole or in part.

• Spectacle frames that, in whole or in part, are made of or contain cellulose nitrate.

• Baby walkers that are mounted on wheels or on any other device permitting movement of the walker and that have an enclosed area supporting the baby in a sitting or standing position so that their feet touch the floor, thereby enabling the horizontal movement of the walker.

• Products for babies, including teethers, pacifiers and baby bottle nipples, that are put in the mouth when used and that contain a filling that has in it a viable micro-organism.

• Structural devices that position feeding bottles to allow babies to feed themselves from the bottle while unattended.

• Disposable metal containers that contain a pressurising fluid composed in whole or in part of vinyl chloride and that are designed to release pressurised contents by the use of a manually operated valve that forms an integral part of the container.

• Liquids that contain polychlorinated biphenyls for use in microscopy, including immersion oils but not including refractive index oils.

• Kites any part of which is made of uninsulated metal that is separated from adjacent conductive areas by a non-conductive area of less than 50 mm and that either (i) has a maximum linear dimension in excess of 150 mm, or (ii) is plated or otherwise coated with a conductive film whose maximum linear dimension exceeds 150 mm.

• Kite strings made of a material that conducts electricity.

• Products made in whole or in part of textile fibres, intended for use as wearing apparel, that are treated with or contain tris (2,3 dibromopropyl) phosphate as a single substance or as part of a chemical compound.

• Any substance that is used to induce sneezing, whether or not called "sneezing powder", and that contains (i) 3,3'-dimethoxybenzidine (4,4'-diamino-3,3'-dimethoxybiphenyl) or any of its salts; (ii) a plant product derived from the genera Helleborus (hellebore), Veratrum album (white hellebore) or Quillaia (Panama Wood); (iii) protoveratrine or veratrine; or (iv) any isomer of nitrobenzaldehyde.

• Cutting oils and cutting fluids, that are for use in lubricating and cooling the cutting area in machining operations, and that contain more than 50 μg/g of any nitrite, when monoetha-nolamine, diethanolamine or triethanolamine is also present.

• Urea formaldehyde-based thermal insulation, foamed in place, used to insulate buildings.

• Lawn darts with elongated tips.

• Polycarbonate baby bottles that contain 4,4'-isopropylidenediphenol (bisphenol A).