Canadian restrictions on portable lasers (Official info release from Laserglow)

Sevensixtwoby39 said:

How is that possible though. I just picked up my 200mw laser at my local post office.?

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This has been in effect since June 2011, and only 3 people on the forum have had lasers confiscated out of the millions that have been imported. Customs can't catch everything.

Well actually, There was a green sticker on my package saying "Customs Declaration." and "opened officially." but I'm betting that it was probably the customs at singapore, since it went from Hong kong to singapore and then Canada.

ARGLaser said:

This has been in effect since June 2011, and only 3 people on the forum have had lasers confiscated out of the millions that have been imported. Customs can't catch everything.

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Well I just kind of lost my hope. I wanted to save up for an arctic spyder or a 1w 445nm spartan :undecided:

I love the delayed reaction to this "act" from summer of 2011, the R-1 document I actually attached in my long post is the legislation that compliments the one Mr.LaserGlow posted first.
The legislation is so broad, it can pertain to anything. Dead fish out of water.

Why are we sounding the alarm now? Suspicious.

potential marketing ploy?

Justin said:

Health Canada has classified all portable Class 3B and 4 lasers as "a danger to human health or safety", as defined by the CCPSA.

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Do you have a link to the document?


Does a bare high-power laser diode fall into a "consumer product"?

lazeristasUVISIR said:

Do you have a link to the document?


Does a bare high-power laser diode fall into a "consumer product"?

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Look at the link in my document R-1.pdf. Also, the first link Dr.laserGlow's link does show the link to the act. Any of it's parts are technically classed as being parts of a "kit".

look at page one.

You'll have to look through the document carefully. It's such a broad document, you can apply the rules to anything. However... as many people are pointing it's toothless.

Also, the act makes mention of demonstration lasers and laser used for special purposes.

Tech_Junkie said:

Have some one in the US buy it, take it apart, and send you the pieces separately.

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Yup. Also bad advice. In the act it CLEARLY states a kit is still considered a laser no matter if assembled or not.

I read the act. It's vague on what is and isn't dangerous. In the laser section it's specific about how the safety of the laser is covered in a commercial product. Safety switch, aperture lock, visual indicators other than the beam, Hazard sticker/label. ..etc.

What isn't clear is " As hobbyists are we breaking the the Canada health Act amendments?"

The word hobbyist isn't mentioned specifically in the act.

lazeristasUVISIR said:

Do you have a link to the document?


Does a bare high-power laser diode fall into a "consumer product"?

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lazeristasUVISIR: There is no specific list of affected products. As somebody else posted here, it's more of a change in their interpretation. Also, the Act is new as of June 2011 but Health Canada only informed us of it a few weeks ago. They came to visit Laserglow, explained the Act and their interpretation of it, inspected our products, and made recommendations for compliance policies that we could implement. They were very understanding about the fact that the Act was not publicized well and we should not be expected to know about it, but since they took the time to visit us we can no longer claim ignorance.

Seoul_lasers: Once again, I'm not giving you MY interpretation of the Act. I am passing along what Health Canada told me directly, in person, during a lengthy meeting. They were very clear with us. If you think that you know better, I invite you to contact Health Canada directly, and discuss with them the CCPSA as it pertains to portable lasers. If anything that they tell you contradicts what I have said here, I'd be most interested to hear about it.

What's important to understand is that Health Canada, just like anyone else, can interpret the act however they deem reasonable. You could have a different interpretation of the act. Health Canada could be wrong, you could be wrong, or you could all be wrong.

What's important about what Justin has said, is that if true, it would seem to indicate that Health Canada has landed on a particular interpretation of the act going forward, and it is apparently one that includes certain portable lasers as dangerous goods. Justin is indicating that Health Canada plans to henceforward continue as if high powered portable lasers fall under this act.

Now, if you disagree with Health Canada's interpretation, you may or may not have some ability to challenge it in court if Health Canada acts on its interpretation. I don't know - I haven't read the act to know what mechanisms are prescribed by it. But the point is, if you don't want to be in that situation, you need to conduct yourself in accordance with Health Canada's interpretation. If you have your own interpretation that tells you otherwise, then you'll likely need to argue it (in court). That's not a scenario that I would encourage anyone to put themselves in.

Lots of regulations require interpretation, and that interpretation often happens by government bodies. That's fine / legitimate. This article says that it is in the process of being updated, and I would imagine that it will give some clarity on the Health Canada position once it has been so updated:
It's Your Health - Laser Pointers [Health Canada, 2004]

Not legal advice ^. Just my gut on the issue, not having read the act.

I have also received several lasers 500mW-2.2W in the mail through customs from the states. It is a gamble at the customs. You may receive it I agree not one of my packages were inspected, not to say that they never will. But seriously if you receive a custom made laser from a builder that has no lables on it do you really think the customs officials are going to put the batteris in and LPM the thing? But it is just a roll of the dice. Where I live is right on the border of the U.S so if it does get bad I can send it to a P.O BOX in the U.S for pickup.

Here is the radiation emissions act up-to date for this year. It complements about 4 other documents dating back to c.1984

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/C.R.C.,_c._1370.pdf

Lasers ARE mentioned specifically in the document.

seoul_lasers said:

here is the radiation emissions act up-to date for this year. It complements about 4 other documents dating back to c.1984

http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/pdf/c.r.c.,_c._1370.pdf

lasers are mentioned specifically in the document.

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this is not the act justin was talking about

Ultimately what matters here is not the interpretation, but rather the enforcement.

I can't speak to canadian law, but there are THOUSANDS of US laws on the books which are simply ignored by all involved.

InfinitusEquitas said:

Ultimately what matters here is not the interpretation, but rather the enforcement.

I can't speak to canadian law, but there are THOUSANDS of US laws on the books which are simply ignored by all involved.

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If what Justin said is true, and Health Canada met with them to indicate that they plan to enforce the law, then I think that's a pretty good indicate that the type of scenario you've described above is not what's going on here.

What are the penalties for failing to comply?

Maybe, or maybe not. After all it's been well over half a year since the new policies went into effect.

Only in watching the consequences will we see how serious health canada is about this new reintepretation, and whether it is a concern to canadian laser hobbyists.

Fact of the matter is 99% of the laser related problems are the result of cheap junk from overseas, and I'm sure they realize this.

Putting well established domestic companies on notice is one thing, they have to because companies are the most likely to challenge the new law/reinterpretation for fiscal reasons.

Going under hobbyists doesn't really make sense though from a resource allocation standpoint. Those resources would be much better spent working with customs in order to prevent the lasers from ever making it into the country in the first place.