Advancing Supply Chain Transparency for Chemicals in Consumer Products

The Issue

• Human health and environmental risks are associated with the production and use of end-of-life of products whose chemical content is not known to the worker, consumer, retailer, or manufacturer.[1]
• Lack of transparency of chemical content in products and supply chains poses a barrier to adopting a circular economy, as harmful chemicals are present in waste streams and in products made from recycled materials.
• Governments and industries can ensure the sound management of chemicals and protection of human and environmental health by identifying and sharing information on chemicals in the products supplied by their suppliers.
• Companies that supply chemicals and products have a strong interest in protecting confidential business information (CBI) and intellectual property, which is a key barrier to sharing chemical ingredient information.

[1] UNEP. 2019. Global Chemicals Outlook II. https://www.unep.org/resources/report/global-chemicals-outlook-ii-legacies-innovative-solutions. Accessed July 2023.

The Work

• The Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) works with the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States to implement their joint objectives relative to the sound management of chemicals.
• The “Advancing Supply Chain Transparency for Chemicals in Products” project was implemented from June 2023 to May 2025. Its goal: Foster collaboration among the North American countries to improve supply chain transparency (SCT) and enhance governments’ and industry’s ability to identify and prevent products containing chemicals of concern, or chemical substitutes of concern, from entering or re-entering the economy.

Specific Objectives

• Identify and disseminate SCT instruments available in North America and globally, including policies, data sharing systems, and environmental standards, to support the development of innovative approaches and digital tools for identifying and disclosing chemical contents in products.
• Increase awareness of best practices for SCT to help industry build resilient supply chains that respond to consumer demand for safer products and information about their chemical composition.

Roadmap