International Trade Committee on Oct. 31st, 2023

[The Chair (Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)), Liberal, Judy Sgro]

I call the meeting to order.

This is meeting number 78 of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the Standing Orders. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.

I need to make a few comments for the benefit of witnesses and members.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. When speaking, please speak slowly and clearly. For those online, please mute yourself when you are not speaking. I remind us that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members online, please use the “raise hand” function.

For interpretation online, you have the choice at the bottom of your screen of either floor, English, or French. Those in the room can use the earpiece and select the desired channel. If interpretation is lost, please inform me immediately, and we will ensure that interpretation is properly restored before resuming the proceedings.

I ask all participants to be careful when handling the earpieces in order to prevent feedback, which can be harmful to our interpreters and cause serious injuries. I invite participants to speak into the same microphone that their earpiece is plugged into, and to place earpieces away from the microphones when they are not in use. We should just have that on a video, and play it at every meeting.

Before we deal with Monsieur Savard-Tremblay's motion, I need approval of the budget request. I believe you all have it in front of you. It's for approximately $8,000 for this study. Is everyone okay with that?

(Motion agreed to)

Thank you very much.

We have witnesses before us today. Thank you very much for making time to come before our great committee. I think you will find that we're a super group of people who have many questions. We look forward to some answers.

From the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, we have Callie Stewart, executive director, technical barriers and regulations.

From the Department of Health, we have David Lee, chief regulatory officer, health products and food branch; Celia Lourenco, associate assistant deputy minister, health products and food branch; and Lisa Duncan, acting director general and chief registrar officer, registration directorate.

Welcome to you all.

We will begin with opening remarks from Ms. Lourenco.

[Dr. Celia Lourenco, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Products and Food Branch, Department of Health]

Hello. Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today.

My name is Celia Lourenco. I am the associate assistant deputy minister of the health products and food branch at Health Canada. I am joined by David Lee, chief regulatory officer of the health products and food branch, as well as colleagues from Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency and Global Affairs Canada.

In Canada, biocides are products that sanitize or disinfect non-living and non-liquid surfaces to prevent disease in humans or animals. Examples of biocides include wipes or sprays applied to sanitize or disinfect surfaces such as countertops, floors or objects.

Depending on their use or purpose, biocides are currently regulated under two separate legal frameworks: either the Food and Drugs Act or the Pest Control Products Act. As the federal regulating authority, Health Canada oversees the market authorization and safety of these products to help ensure that Canadians have access to a wide range of biocides that meet safety, efficacy and quality standards.

As members of this committee are aware, Health Canada is proposing to create new regulations for biocides under the Food and Drugs Act that would consolidate the regulation of these products under a single framework. The current system of multiple frameworks results in inconsistent oversight, confusion for some stakeholders and delays to market access. Stakeholders have been asking for change for a number of years.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the demand for biocides, leading to shortages. Also, the department experienced an influx of biocide applications that led to delays, underscoring the challenges with the current system. Interim measures were put in place during the pandemic to expedite access and reinforced the need for a more agile way of regulating these products.

The new regulations aim to build on the lessons learned from the pandemic and to create a more modern approach, with risk-based requirements that will reduce market disruption. They will provide more clarity and predictability for industry and Health Canada and bring innovative biocides to the market sooner, while also continuing to protect the health and safety of Canadians.

One of the innovative approaches in the proposed regulations is that Health Canada would allow applicants to leverage the authorization of a trusted foreign regulatory authority to expedite the review and authorization of the same product in Canada. This review pathway recognizes that scientific and regulatory standards used in the development and regulation of these products are aligned internationally and would create efficiencies in the regulatory approval process in Canada without compromising our standards.

While Health Canada's regulatory review would be streamlined, the same level of scientific evidence as for any other biocide would still be required prior to approving a product. Additionally, once these biocides are on the Canadian market, a greater level of safety oversight would be applied to these products, as compared to other biocides.

As is standard for all regulatory proposals, this proposal has undergone extensive consultation to date. We have gone through the rigorous Canada Gazette process that included a 70‑day public consultation period beginning on May 7th, 2022. In addition, Health Canada has met regularly with stakeholders, starting in July 2019, to inform the development of the proposed regulations.

We have heard from many stakeholders who welcome these measures to simplify the regulations and encourage market access of innovative biocides. However, some stakeholders representing Canadian companies have expressed concerns about competition from foreign products entering the market. As mentioned, regardless of the review pathway, all biocides must meet the Canadian scientific and regulatory requirements before they can be approved.

In closing, Madame Chair, the proposed Biocides Regulations are an innovative set of measures that will simplify the regulatory process and bring about a more agile framework without compromising safety, efficacy, and quality.

We are committed to continuing to work with stakeholders and evaluating their feedback as we move to final publication.

Thank you once again for inviting us and I look forward to answering any questions that the committee may have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Judy Sgro]

Thank you very much. We will now open the floor for questions.

Mr. Seeback, you have six minutes, please.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

I want to briefly ask a question of Ms. Stewart.

Have there been any trade issues raised with respect to this matter from any of our trading partners on this new proposed framework?

[Callie Stewart, Executive Director, Technical Barriers and Regulations, Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development]

No, not to my knowledge.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

This is not like the digital services tax, on which we get letters from the ways and means committee, or with respect to Bill C-282. We've heard from many trading partners of their unhappiness with that bill. There are no trade implications, it would appear, with respect to this piece of legislation. Is that correct?

[Callie Stewart]

To the best of my knowledge, that is correct. In fact, I had to look this up before coming to this committee. Concerns really have not crossed our desk from the perspective of either trading partners or stakeholders.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

That's my understanding as well.

To the other members who are here today, was there broad consultation on this new framework with industry stakeholders?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

Yes, absolutely. We consulted quite broadly on it. We started our consultations in 2019, and, in the last few years leading up to Canada Gazette, part I—CGI—we continued to consult. We launched our CGI consultation last year, with ongoing engagement following CGI as we worked towards CGII to revise the proposal.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Would you say that there is broad support for this framework?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

There is broad support in some areas. There is mixed support in others. There is a bit of concern on one of the aspects of the proposal that has to do—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Is that the use of foreign decision?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

It's the use of foreign decision.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Is that where the concern would lie with some of the stakeholders?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

Yes, that's where the concern lies.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Before, different disinfectants or sanitizers went under different reviews. Now it's going to be under one review. I would call that cutting red tape, streamlining and more efficiency. Would you agree with that assessment?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

From our perspective, yes. For that reason, there is broad support. Because of the streamlining under one single framework, that aspect of the proposal is broadly supported.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Removing the gatekeepers is wonderful.

I am going to share the rest of my time with Monsieur Martel.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thanks to the witnesses for being with us today.

Ms. Lourenco, you say that the purpose of the new measures provided for in the new regulations is to ensure “a consistent and flexible approach to the regulation of biocides”.

What, more specifically, are the aspects of the process that you propose to improve?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

First of all, what we're aiming to improve is bringing the regulation of these products under a single framework under the Food and Drugs Act. Currently there are different categories of these products that are regulated under different acts that have different requirements and different timelines for the review. We'd like to consolidate that under one act.

The other change is that we're creating a new set of regulations that are a lot more appropriate for these types of products versus the regulations that we have currently. They will have requirements that are more risk-based and will also have different mechanisms for these products to be reviewed and enter the market. It would facilitate access to broader ranges of products.

One of the examples is the use of a foreign decision pathway. That would allow for products to come in through a process that's simpler, more streamlined and less costly for industry.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Every country has its own particular standards for the regulation of chemicals?

Do you think it would be possible for Canada to recognize foreign approval without having to make any major compromises on safety standards?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

Absolutely. That is absolutely our aim, because in the regulations of these products there is a tremendous amount of international engagement and collaboration. The standards that we apply in Canada for these products are international standards that many other countries also use, and for that reason, if we rely on an international review of these products, it would not jeopardize our standards.

Also, when we conduct our review, we will continue to make sure that the products that are coming through that use a foreign decision pathway meet other additional requirements that we have in Canada, such as the requirements related to labelling, having labelling in both official languages and the requirements around packaging.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

All right.

How will you determine what a trusted foreign regulatory authority is? What are the selection criteria?

[Dr. Celia Lourenco]

To start off with, we have identified the United States Environmental Protection Agency as the first key competent international regulator that we will use to recognize their reviews, and the way that we've identified that is we did a very detailed crosswalk of their regulatory requirements against our requirements, including our scientific requirements, to make sure that they aligned very closely.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Thank you.