Thank you. Bev, that's pretty formal for an old dairy farmer to a veterinarian. It goes back a long time.
Good morning. My name is Ed Empringham. I'm a veterinarian and the senior project manager for the Canadian Animal Health Coalition. I'm pleased to be here with a full view of the harbour out the window of Purdy's Wharf.
The coalition was pleased to facilitate a teleconference on C-18 with its members and an extended invitation to other non-member organizations in the animal agriculture sector. The teleconference was held on January 9th and included 58 participants demonstrating interest in this legislation. The discussion was led by representatives of the CFIA who discussed the Health of Animals Act, the Feeds Act, and the Agriculture and Agri-Food Administrative Monetary Penalties Act, which, of the seven bills that were included in C-18, were the ones within the mandate of the coalition.
We really want to commend the CFIA staff for the work they did to make this initiative work, and it ended up being a very positive event.
In addition to specific comments on the three acts, the presenters commented on the principles of modernization and inclusion by reference that are included in all acts in C-18.
The purpose of the coalition teleconference was to provide an opportunity for the animal agriculture organizations to become aware and informed of C-18, and to encourage high-quality consultative input by the organizations involved. The coalition did not provide comments of its own. The coalition as an organization of organizations has a mandate to facilitate discussion and action on matters that affect multiple stakeholders in animal agriculture.
However, as a matter of principle, the coalition supports the modernization of legislation to harmonize approaches and recognize modern business practices, the concept of inclusion by reference into regulation, the ability to reference foreign reviews and analysis, and the need to ensure that legislation ensures the protection of animal health and welfare, food safety, meets the requirements of trade, enables innovation, and doesn't impede commerce. That's a pretty tall order.
In its work the coalition takes a collaborative approach that includes industry and other non-governmental organizations with provincial and federal partners with a focus on enhancing Canada's animal health and welfare system. It's hoped that the changes to be implemented through C-18 will help in this regard. In particular a reference of foreign reviews and analysis may be helpful with the availability of pharmaceuticals for minor species thereby contributing to animal health and welfare as well as food safety through a decreased need for extra-label drug use.
Thank you for your opportunity to appear as a witness, and that closes my opening comments.