What points are they?
Evidence of meeting #78 for International Trade in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was product.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #78 for International Trade in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was product.
A recording is available from Parliament.
12:45 p.m.
General manager, Groupement provincial de l'industrie du médicament (GPIM), Association pour le développement et l'innovation en chimie au Québec
I unfortunately can't name them for you. This isn't my specialization.
12:45 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Maybe on Thursday Mr. Côté can speak directly to that.
I have Mr. Seeback for five minutes.
Go ahead, please.
12:45 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Ms. Coombs, I'm trying to understand what the concern from Mr. Lévesque seems to be. He was saying that it's unfair for American-manufactured products to come into Canada because they have an advantage.
My understanding is that he's actually comparing apples to oranges. He's talking about a new Canadian product having to go through all these longer approvals, whereas the American product has to have been approved in the U.S. first before it can be expedited.
Comparing a new Canadian product to one already approved in the United States is not a fair comparison. Would you agree with that?
12:45 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
They're just different review processes within Health Canada. You can have a novel product and you can bring that into the Canadian marketplace. That's one pathway, or you can use the UFD as another pathway.
To address some of the concerns that were raised with respect to Mr. Cannings' point, Madam Chair, for the end-use product, the specifications between Canada and the U.S. are exactly the same. While I hear my colleague's concerns about this, we see this as being beneficial.
If you cast your mind back to the time during COVID when we didn't have any disinfectants and many of the members around this table were part of the special parliamentary committee on COVID, these shortages were in real time, and we were addressing them. We brought in 298 of those products through this interim provision, and I think it speaks to the leadership of this government to be able to address a concern in the pandemic and to also be able to reduce red tape and bring in the new regulation by embodying not only a UFD but also other pathways to the Canadian marketplace.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
I just want to say that with regard to a new product in the United States versus a new product in Canada, under these rules there's no huge advantage for the American product, as Mr. Lévesque seems to be saying. The American product goes through the American approval process through the EPA and then applies for the 90-day approval in Canada.
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
The companies do, yes.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
The company does, and the Canadian company with the novel product just uses the Canadian process.
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
We still get a DIN at the end of the day. We get a Health Canada approval and we have a bilingual label.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
That's correct.
The other concern seems to be that the EPA is not providing a similar review. That seems to be the other concern for Mr. Lévesque. He mentioned that it's cold in Canada. It's also cold in parts of the United States, in Montana and other places.
I assume the Government of Canada has decided that this process works only because these reviews are so similar that we needn't have any worries with respect to the approval of a product through the EPA versus an approval of the product by Health Canada. Would that be correct as well?
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
Madam Chair, that would be our assertion, yes.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
Okay.
Mr. Arya talked about Canadian manufacturers that you represent. You certainly do represent Canadian manufacturers. I know that Clorox is in my riding in Orangeville. They produce a lot of these products, and in fact they produced a lot during the pandemic. They really helped out.
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
This regulation speaks to the innovation that was able to be brought to the Canadian marketplace during COVID with electrostatic sprayers. I know this is a little inside baseball, but these are sprayers that were able to be used to deliver disinfectants to disinfect areas such airports, trains and planes, and that technology had never been in Canada before. This is the type of thing we're talking about with respect to innovation coming to the Canadian marketplace.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
The last concern I would see that we could have with this—because I don't think the other concerns about the different processes are real concerns—is this reciprocity with the United States. Do you know if there is any regulatory reciprocity now for Canada? If a Canadian manufacturer goes through Health Canada, is there going to be a similarly accelerated acceptance of this product in the United States? Does that already exist?
October 31st, 2023 / 12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
That could be phase two of the regulation.
12:50 p.m.
President, Canadian Consumer Specialty Products Association
No, it does not.
12:50 p.m.
Conservative
Kyle Seeback Conservative Dufferin—Caledon, ON
—but that's something that the committee could recommend.
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
We'll go now to Mr. Sheehan for five minutes, please.
Mr. Sheehan, I think you're on mute.
12:50 p.m.
A voice
Oh, no—more technical difficulties.
12:50 p.m.
Voices
Oh, oh!
12:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
What's happening?
We're having.... Again, this is....
Okay, Mr. Sheehan, we cannot hear you. Can you unplug your headset and then plug it in again, please?
You see, Mr. Côté? It's happening even with other people, not just with you.
Try it again, please, Mr. Sheehan.