Health Canada has now simultaneously implemented and proposed multiple regulatory changes for natural health products under the self-care framework, which was initiated in 2014 and was intended to bring together low-risk products such as cosmetics, natural health products and over-the-counter drugs. Many initiatives linked to this overarching, incomplete framework are now being pushed through at the same time in a piecemeal approach that does not consider how regulatory and policy changes interact with each other.
These changes are cost recovery, new labelling regulations and Vanessa's Law. Health Canada has stated that the regulatory changes are intended to protect Canadians by ensuring the safety and effectiveness of health products. While admirable, the unintended consequences of these changes are becoming alarmingly apparent. Small local businesses, which have been vital in providing Canadians with access to a wide range of natural health products, are grappling with the anticipated burden of compliance and increased costs. This, in turn, raises concerns about the affordability and accessibility of these products for the very Canadians the regulations aim to protect.
While we agree that regulations are vital for product safety and efficacy, the new proposed over-regulation will have the opposite effect. It will drive consumers toward unregulated, international online markets that offer lower-cost products, risking consumer safety.
This is not a theoretical risk. Canadians are currently allowed to bring in natural health products via personal importation rules from the U.S. and around the world with zero Health Canada labelling requirements or premarket approvals.
U.S. state governments, like Arizona, are currently pitching tax incentives for Canadian NHP companies to set up in their state and sell back into Canada using personal importation rules. I ask you this: How does this better protect Canadian consumers or, truthfully, benefit Canada in any way?
This committee needs to send a strong and formal message to Health Canada that the proposed cost and regulatory burden needs to end here. We need a formal reset. We need to ensure that the NHP framework is well-informed, balanced and in the best interests of Canadians.
Finally, I need to speak out to protect the reputation of our sector. In 2021, an audit by the Canadian environmental and sustainable development commissioner alleged some startling statistics, including findings that 88% of products had misleading advertising and 56% of those products were mislabelled.
It is essential to set the record straight. Subsequent scrutiny of the CESD report revealed that these numbers were not, nor were ever intended to be, representative of the Canadian market. Specifically, “Purposeful samples were used since it was not possible to do audit/statistical sampling given the population was not available“.
Efforts to review the methodology used for the audit were also refused by the Auditor General's office, claiming it was not appropriate to release statistical methodology, further limiting the ability to comprehensively examine and validate these allegations. As a result, the reliability of the statistics in the CESD report must be viewed with caution. A more in-depth and transparent examination is needed to assess the accuracy of these assertions.
All of this needs to stop. As an industry, we continue to support regulations and legislation that protects Canadians, with transparency and developed in a responsible and appropriate manner.
It is imperative that we find a balance between regulatory goals and their real-world impact on the livelihood of these small businesses and the well-being of Canadians.
Please, let's hit reset and let's get this right. Thank you very much.