Evidence of meeting #27 for International Trade in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was vaccine.
A recording is available from Parliament.
1:50 p.m.
Conservative
Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Can you table with this committee any correspondence or documents from anyone in the European Union confirming that Canada will not be affected by the EU export control measures for COVID-19 vaccines?
Can someone respond to that?
1:50 p.m.
Chief Trade Negotiator and Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Policy and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
We can certainly look at what we have. We were assured that we would not be affected by a number of our interlocutors on a number of occasions. I'm certain we can provide that information.
1:50 p.m.
Conservative
Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Thank you.
Madam Chair, I've had a number of delays in response. I don't know if they're technological or if the witnesses are not sure who's speaking. I'm wondering if I can have a little bit of time.
1:50 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
You have 45 seconds remaining. We'll give you an extra 15 seconds for the delay in communication. We want to make sure that others get a chance to ask the questions, and we only have 10 minutes remaining.
1:50 p.m.
Conservative
Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
To acknowledge, we did start late as well due to technical problems.
Can someone please table any analysis done on the two new additions from the EU export controls and how this could affect Canada specifically on the reciprocity and proportionality restrictions? What analysis was done on that, and how might that affect Canada?
1:50 p.m.
Chief Trade Negotiator and Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Policy and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
We can certainly take a look at that. We did talk to the EU at length about those particular conditions. We never saw them as a particular concern from our perspective, and we were assured from the EU side that they would not be a concern either.
1:50 p.m.
Conservative
Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC
Are you saying we didn't do any analysis at all on that?
1:50 p.m.
Chief Trade Negotiator and Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Policy and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
No, I did not say that. We did do analysis on that.
1:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would also like to thank the witnesses appearing before our committee today.
Mr. Ambassador, thank you for all of your work at the WTO on behalf of Canada and particularly our Canadian businesses and exporters. I have a couple of questions for you arising out of our TRIPS study, but I see that many colleagues are talking about vaccines for Canadians today.
I want also to make sure it is on the record—even though there's much discussion about Europe—that we'll be receiving Pfizer vaccines from the United States beginning next week.
For the European export restrictions that were being discussed just a moment ago, Mr. Ambassador and Mr. Verheul, my understanding is that the only countries left on the exemption list for these EU measures are low-income countries. Is that your understanding as well?
Go ahead, Mr. Verheul, perhaps.
1:50 p.m.
Chief Trade Negotiator and Assistant Deputy Minister, Trade Policy and Negotiations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Yes. That is our understanding.
1:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you.
Mr. Ambassador, with respect to the TRIPS discussions that are ongoing at the WTO, could you perhaps elaborate on what you are hearing, both on waiver performance and from industry?
We in this committee have heard testimony from various Canadian industries, research organizations and pharmaceutical companies, as well as several experts, indicating that there may be a risk to our own Canadian biomanufacturing industry by virtue of the fact that we would be introducing uncertainty into what is otherwise a very well-known playing field.
Mr. Ambassador, in your view, is that a risk that this committee should be concerned about?
1:50 p.m.
Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Canada to the World Trade Organization, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Thank you for the question.
It certainly is consistent with what I alluded to or what I had stated before. At this point, we don't know, but we have had the consistent position that rules are there for a reason and that their suspension should not be taken lightly.
It does not surprise us to hear that there may be some discomfort and some hesitancy around the waiver for that very reason. That is something that's worth exploring, in our view, to ensure that there aren't negative consequences to the creation of the waiver.
1:50 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Thank you.
You insisted a lot in your earlier testimony on the importance of the technology transfer as being an essential ingredient in order to have more equitable global access to vaccines.
Is there anything in the current mutation of what the waiver proponents are asking for that would allow or require that technology transfer or what we're talking about exclusively, the waiver of intellectual property rights?
1:55 p.m.
Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Canada to the World Trade Organization, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
It's actually fairly difficult to comment on the waiver because we haven't seen a revised text, so we're not sure. At this point, it would appear to be limited to intellectual property, the broad gamut of intellectual property including trademark copyright and patents.
There isn't anything that speaks to that necessarily.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Picking up on that exact point, do you therefore feel it is fair for Canada to wait to see the full text of what is being proposed before taking an official position?
1:55 p.m.
Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Canada to the World Trade Organization, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Absolutely. I don't think it would be wise to make policies in any other way.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
Rachel Bendayan Liberal Outremont, QC
Is your advice to this committee, I guess stemming from that, to be judicious in our evaluation of this study?
1:55 p.m.
Ambassador & Permanent Representative of Canada to the World Trade Organization, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development
Yes. Look, there is a significant problem. This is a pandemic. Another one of the members reminded me of that. This is a serious problem, and it requires a serious evaluation. We need to make sure that we're doing that evaluation and leaving no stone unturned.
Absolutely, it is our role to be examining this very closely with an open mind. We have not said no to the waiver, but we certainly do have questions with respect to the waiver.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you very much.
We'll move on to Mr. Savard-Tremblay for two and a half minutes, please.
1:55 p.m.
Bloc
Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Once again, I would like to thank our friends from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada for joining us today.
How is it that there was no meeting with the scientific players in Quebec or Canada to try to produce a vaccine as soon as this pandemic began, in March 2020?
In France, for example, the president made a formal call to mobilize industry. He quickly brought together the heads of laboratories working on a vaccine against COVID-19. Why did we wait until 2021 to announce investments in a biomanufacturing centre for August?
1:55 p.m.
Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategy and Innovation Policy Sector, Department of Industry
Let me start again and then turn the floor over to my colleague, Mr. Patterson.
The entire industry was called to action in order to join the efforts to fight the pandemic, and to do so early on.
The call to action to industry was launched early in the pandemic to bring together all of the industrial capacities in the manufacture of a number of different elements to be able to aid in the COVID effort, including PPE and digital and technological innovations. That also then saw the efforts ensure we had appropriate mechanisms to assess those.
With respect to the specifics on biomanufacturing, I would pass the mike over to my colleague Darryl.
1:55 p.m.
Director General, Projects and Policy, Biomanufacturing Strategy Implementation Team, Department of Industry
Thank you, Mark.
Investments were immediately made in a number of companies in March and April, including Medicago and AbCellera. April 25, 2020 was when there was a call-out for applications for vaccine therapeutics, as well as biomanufacturing projects that went to the strategic innovation fund.
Around 90 proposals were received, 21 of which were biomanufacturing proposals. Those proposals were evaluated rigorously with expert advice, and then funded as soon as possible thereafter for those that were deemed to be promising and successful. Those investments continue today and will continue into the future as the government looks towards the long-term pandemic preparedness and biomanufacturing strategy.
1:55 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Judy Sgro
Thank you, Mr. Patterson.
We'll go on to Mr. Blaikie for two and a half minutes, please.