New consumer law to allow recalls: Aglukkaq

The federal minister of health is planning to introduce a new consumer safety law to give Health Canada the authority to order recalls of dangerous goods.

Leona Aglukkaq made the announcement while touring a product safety laboratory in Ottawa.

The federal public health agency has been under fire for lacking the authority to order a recall when products have been shown to be dangerous. Now, all recalls in Canada are voluntary, and Health Canada can only ask companies to pull products from the market.

"Canada's current product safety law is now over 40 years old, and we need to do more to update and improve this law to help protect our families from harmful products," Aglukkaq said, "We can do better."

In 2009, Health Canada posted more than 300 voluntary recall notices, a third of them for children's products.Aglukkaq says million of Canadians are affected by recalls each year.

According to the minister, the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act will give Ottawa the authority to issue mandatory recalls, and provide new tools to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

"This updated law means Canadians would be better protected from dangerous products that have no business in our homes or near our children," Aglukkaq said.

She says she'll announce more details in the coming days.

The federal government has promised to pass new consumer safety legislation since 2007.