Masked Name Regulations

Regulations Respecting the Masking of Names of Substances to Prevent the Disclosure of Confidential Information His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of the Environment and the Minister of National Health and Welfare, pursuant to subsection 32(1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act*, is pleased hereby to make the annexed Regulations respecting the masking of names of substances to prevent the disclosure of confidential information. R.S., c. 16 (4th Supp.) These Regulations may be cited as the Masked Name Regulations. In these Regulations, Act means the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999; (Loi) chemical group means an arrangement of bonded atoms that is a portion of a molecule and that possesses a name consisting of a non-composite radical term established in accordance with the chemical nomenclature rules of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry or the Chemical Abstracts Service; (groupe chimique) locant means a numeral or Greek or Roman letter used in the name of a substance to indicate the positions of unsaturated bonds or attachments of chemical groups in a molecule; (symbole indicateur de position) masked name means a name determined in accordance with section 3 that conceals the explicit chemical or biological name of a substance without misrepresenting the generic identity of the substance; (dénomination maquillée) multiplicative prefix means a prefix that describes the number of identical chemical groups in a chemical substance; (préfixe multiplicatif) non-descriptive term means a term used in the masked name of a substance, in place of a distinctive element of the explicit chemical or biological name, that does not misrepresent the generic identity of the substance; (terme non descriptif) parent structure means the principal chain or ring system from which an explicit chemical name or part of an explicit chemical name is derived. (structure parentale) For the purposes of sections 88 and 113 of the Act, the explicit chemical or biological name of a substance shall be masked by replacing a single distinctive element of the name with a non-descriptive term; replacing each of two or more distinctive elements of the name with a non-descriptive term; removing the locants; or removing the locants and replacing each of one or more other distinctive elements with a non-descriptive term. The number of distinctive elements in an explicit chemical or biological name that are replaced or removed in accordance with subsection (1) shall not exceed the minimum number necessary to ensure confidentiality. For the purposes of subsection (2), the removal of a stereochemical indicator from an explicit chemical name does not constitute the removal of a distinctive element. Subject to section 6, where all or part of the explicit chemical name of a substance can be described with a structural diagram, any of the following is a single distinctive element of that name or part: a locant; a locant and multiplicative prefix that together specify the position and number of a chemical group; the name of a chemical group; the name of the parent structure and the locant of a chemical group bonded to the parent structure; or in the case of a salt, the name and multiplicative prefix of a single cation or anion of the salt. Subject to subsection (2) and section 6, where the explicit chemical name of a substance cannot be described with a structural diagram, either of the following is a single distinctive element of that name: a constituent of the name that describes a complex mixture of a known class of chemicals including any substance that is recorded in the Chemical Abstracts Chemical Substance Index as an indefinite or general derivative of a specific chemical substance; or a constituent of the name that describes a complex mixture of an unknown class of chemicals including a substance that is recorded or is capable of being recorded in the Chemical Abstracts General Subject Index and can be named only by using descriptive or illustrative terms. For the purposes of subsection (1), where a part of the explicit chemical name can be described with a structural diagram, the masking of that part shall be carried out in accordance with section 4. Where a substance referred to in section 4 or 5 contains a chemical group that includes a carbon atom possessing more than a single valence, the name of the chemical group shall not be masked where the carbon atom is attached directly to an acyclic carbon atom; or included within a ring system. The name of a parent structure of a substance referred to in section 4 or 5 may be masked only by one of the following non-descriptive terms, as appropriate: alkyl or alkane; alkenyl or alkene; alkynyl or alkyne; carbomonocyclic or carbomonocycle; carbopolycyclic or carbopolycycle; heteromonocyclic or heteromonocycle; or heteropolycyclic or heteropolycycle. Where all or any part of the name of a substance is an explicit biological name, any of the following is a single distinctive element of that explicit biological name: the genus name; the species name; the strain name; the common biological name; the source; the culture history; the phenotypic or genotypic characteristics; the use; or any other pertinent descriptive information.