Industry committee  We are talking to each other. If something is a natural health product you can make a health claim. It has to be substantiated by evidence, and you can make health claims for certain foods. Again, it has to be substantiated by evidence.

Industry committee  The same cereal could probably be sold--

Industry committee  --but without the claim. The United States has a different regulatory system.

Industry committee  When we developed the products for natural health products, which was quite some time ago, and then there was a review done just over a year ago, the majority of stakeholders were very supportive of the current regulatory environment, because they recognize that it gives credibility to the claim.

Industry committee  I don't have the specific numbers here with me today. We can provide them to you. One of the challenges we've had with natural health products is I think pretty evident: these are products that were marketed long before the regulations came into force in 2004, so there was a backlog before we even started regulating.

Industry committee  It is no different for us, at Health Canada, than it is for our colleagues at Environment Canada. We are not primarily doing research for commercial application; we are doing research to support our role in Health Canada as a policy-maker and as a regulator. Where there is the possibility to be opportunistic, we take it, but our reason is really to protect Canadians and to help them support a positive sense of health.

Industry committee  First, we don't require additional testing in Canada. It is essentially common testing required for a pharmaceutical product around the world. The information is then submitted to the different regulators around the world. Increasingly, in the area of human medicines, we are looking to collaborate with colleagues.

Industry committee  I don't know specifically for the food guide what the budget is. The office of nutrition policy and promotion would have a budget, and there was a budget for translating. It's been translated now into I think about 18 different languages.

Industry committee  I would have to check.

Industry committee  The way Canada's food guide was developed, it actually used two advisory committees that were external to the department. One was a scientifically based advisory panel and one had broad stakeholder input. I believe each panel had probably around 25 people. The staff within Health Canada who have the primary mandate for the food guide are in the office of nutrition policy and promotion.

Industry committee  Thank you. As my colleague said, in all our areas you see scientists who are in their jobs for their whole career in the same area. You can see the attractiveness. We recently posted one job at a biologist's classification, a level 3, and in 48 hours we had 500 applications. So the government is an attractive workforce at present.

Industry committee  We're also primarily a regulatory department, when you're looking at our science and technology, so we have some of the same issues Environment Canada has. But we certainly do look at, and have come up with, patents and intellectual property on many methods or parts of methods that help you in terms of things like detecting different substances in the environment or in food or in water that could pose harm.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to meet with you to discuss the science at Health Canada. I would like to begin with a brief overview of Health Canada's mandate and the importance of science to our Department. Health Canada depends on a strong foundation of science and research to fulfill its mission to help Canadians maintain and improve their health.

Health committee  Thank you. The internationally educated health professionals initiative has been established to accelerate and expand the assessment and integration of internationally educated health professionals into the health care system. The federal government has committed $75 million over five years to this initiative.

Health committee  The Health Council of Canada is to report on progress on matters under the accord. Their last report was November 2007. Their next report is expected in three weeks. We would be very happy to provide the committee with the past report and the new one when it's published.