Sure, I'd be happy to.
First of all, thank you for the many years of your work on this. I think it provided all of us with the knowledge, but also the inspiration, to work together across parties to get this done.
With royal assent, I can tell you that the new authorities for me and any future ministers as Minister of Health, would be the ability to compel information, recall unsafe therapeutic products, impose tougher fines and penalties, incorporate by reference, disclose confidential business information, direct package label changes, and seek an injunction.
In terms of regulations that are not in force and that we will be developing and are already developing to ensure they come into force soon are the ability to require tests and studies, order a reassessment, and attach terms and conditions to market authorizations. I would say they still need further work in the regulatory process. They're important, but I think the ones that matter the most, as you know, are the ability to recall products quickly, compel information, direct label changes, and tougher fines.
For the things that really impact consumers and those who are using the product, we have the power today, thanks to all the work you and the committee did, both here in the House and the committee in the Senate. I would say it also saves us a great deal of time. I know I spent some time speaking about this in the Senate, but the fact that we now have the power to do this means we don't have to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies. Our officials spent literally hundreds of hours negotiating with companies to change their labels, to pull unsafe products off the shelves. Of course, the longer they can keep them on the shelves, the better for them, and the more profits. It was very frustrating.
The fact that this law has passed will not only allow us to act more quickly in the public interest, but also frees our officials to do the work they should be focused on instead of negotiating with companies.