Mr. Speaker, the seven person working group appointed by the Government of Canada to study the safety of recombinant bovine somatotropin for animal and human health should release its report very soon, that is, before the moratorium
imposed by the government on manufacturers expires on July 1st.
At present, this hormone provides only financial and economic benefits and may be prejudicial to the health of all Canadians.
I am therefore asking the authorities concerned, and especially the Minister of Health, to ensure that all necessary studies, including the one on insulin growth factor-1, a hormone that may in some cases be linked to excessive limb and chin development, are conducted.
If these studies do not prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that BST is safe, the Minister of Health should seek an indefinite extension of the moratorium.