To enhance public security, in 2010 the Government of Canada enacted the Restricted Components Regulations (“RCR”) regulation which govern the sale of ammonium nitrate having a nitrogen concentration between 28% and 34% (“AN”). These regulations are consistent with other regulatory measures pertaining to ammonium nitrate which have been adopted, or are being considered, in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries.
The RCR attempts to prevent AN from being acquired for terrorist or criminal purposes as AN can, under certain circumstances, be used as an explosive. The RCR impose various security, inventory control, record keeping, and customer identification requirements upon each seller of AN.
AN is used by many entities as the active ingredient in Instant Cold Packs (“Cold Products”) for some time. While the amount of AN in these Cold Products is small, the company discontinued the use of AN in our Cold Products and instead use calcium ammonium nitrate (“CAN”) in place of AN.
The use of CAN continues to allow our company to provide Cold Products that meet established performance requirements for Instant Cold Packs while at the same time, not subject to the public security concerns associated with AN. Using CAN contributes to the security of the general public. We can also relieve our customers of the need to comply with the increasingly global regulatory requirements associated with the purchase and sale of AN.
Please note that should your company sell Ammonium Nitrate Instant Cold Packs from other suppliers that are a nitrogen concentration of between 28 to 34 percent, then your company will need to register as a seller of Ammonium Nitrate.
What you can do?
For your information, we have attached a link to the RCR which require sellers of AN in Canada to register with the Canadian Government and to implement various internal security and customer identification requirements: https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2008-47/index.html.
While Rapid Aid solutions have enacted this change since 2010, if you have been working with manufacturers outside the US or carry older stock of products, you should check your stocks, update your sales literature and web site information and alert customers and resellers if you suspect them to use the AN.
If you need to replace this product with safer, compliance products, contact Rapid Aid for a custom quote on a cold product.
Tag: Personal Protection Equipment
