Bill C-252

This enactment amends the Food and Drugs Act to prohibit food and beverage marketing directed at persons under 13 years of age.

Whereas the Public Health Agency of Canada stated in its 2012 report entitled Curbing Childhood Obesity: A Federal, Provincial and Territorial Framework for Action to Promote Healthy Weights that the rate of childhood obesity in Canada has been rising steadily in recent decades;

Whereas, during its 2016 study on the increasing incidence of obesity in Canada, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology heard experts testify that the number of obese children in Canada has tripled since 1980 and that Canada ranks sixth among industrialized nations in respect of its percentage of children who are obese;

Whereas overweight and obese children are at an increased risk for the premature onset of chronic conditions and illnesses such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, sleep apnea, joint problems, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers;

Whereas being overweight or obese also impacts the mental health and well-being of children, as well as other aspects of their lives;

Whereas losing weight and maintaining weight loss are difficult, and research shows overweight or obese children are more likely to continue to be overweight or obese into adulthood;

Whereas obesity also has an impact on society as a whole through increased health care spending and loss of workforce productivity;

Whereas, in its final report presented on January 25, 2016, the World Health Organization’s Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity concluded that there is unequivocal evidence that the marketing of foods and beverages that contribute to excess sugar, saturated fats or sodium in children’s diets has a negative impact on childhood obesity and recommended that any attempt to tackle childhood obesity should include a reduction in the exposure of children to marketing;

Whereas leading health organizations, including the World Health Organization and its regional offices such as the Pan American Health Organization, have developed evidence-based nutrient profiling models that serve as a basis for classifying foods and beverages as contributing to excess sugar, saturated fats or sodium in children’s diets according to their nutritional composition in order to prevent disease and promote health;

Whereas children are particularly vulnerable to marketing and its persuasive influence over their food preferences and consumption;

Whereas marketing of food and beverages to children remains widespread in Canada despite voluntary measures such as the Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children and the Canadian Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative;

Whereas the rapidly increasing rate of childhood obesity in Canada is a matter of national concern;

Whereas the protection of vulnerable children from the manipulative influence of marketing of food and beverages is predicated on a pressing and substantial concern and calls for a federal legislative response;

Whereas the Senate Committee also recommended, in its report entitled Obesity in Canada: A Whole-of-Society Approach for a Healthier Canada tabled on March 1, 2016, that the federal government implement a prohibition on the advertising of foods and beverages to children;

Whereas it is widely acknowledged that marketing to children has spread well beyond the traditional media of television, radio and print to include online and other digital content and celebrity and character endorsement, and it is therefore critical that restrictions on the marketing of food and beverages to children cover all potential marketing media in a broad and robust fashion in order to provide adequate protection to young Canadians;

Whereas a healthy population, including children, is key to reducing the probability of adverse health events;

Whereas it is necessary to review and monitor the effectiveness of this Act, particularly in light of new forms of advertising;

And whereas persons who are 13 to 16 years of age are also vulnerable to marketing and its persuasive influence over their food preferences and consumption, and it is also necessary to monitor and review the advertising of foods and beverages to that age group;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

children means persons who are under 13 years of age; (enfants)

General Provisions

Advertising Directed at Children

Advertising directed at children

7.‍1 Subject to the regulations, no person shall advertise foods and beverages that contribute to excess sugar, saturated fats or sodium in children’s diets in a manner that is directed primarily at persons who are under 13 years of age.

Trademarks

7.‍2 (1) Despite the Trademarks Act, the registration of a trademark shall not be held invalid on the basis of paragraph 18(1)‍(b) or (c) of that Act as a result of compliance with this Act or any regulations made under it for the purposes of section 7.‍‍1.

For greater certainty

(2) For greater certainty, the absence of use of a trade-mark as a result of compliance with this Act or any regulations made under it for the purposes of section 7.‍‍1 constitutes special circumstances that excuse the absence of use for the purposes of the Trademarks Act.

Review by committee

7.‍3 Before the fifth anniversary of the day on which sections 7.‍1 and 7.‍2 come into force, those sections are to be referred to the committee of the Senate, of the House of Commons or of both Houses of Parliament that may be designated or established for the purpose of reviewing their effect. The review is, in particular, to focus on whether there is an increase in the advertising of foods and beverages that contribute to excess sugar, saturated fats or sodium in children’s diets in a manner that is directed primarily at persons who are 13 to 16 years of age.

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