moved:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should ensure that production management tools available to Canadian farmers are similar to those of other national jurisdictions by considering equivalent scientific research and agricultural regulatory approval processes by Health Canada, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak to my private member's Motion No. 460, which seeks the support of the House to level the playing field for Canadian agricultural producers with those they compete with around the world.
I want to thank my colleagues, the hon. Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and the Minister of Health, as well as department officials at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency for their support of my motion.
I am a farmer, a profession and career I chose, and a choice I am very proud of. It is a profession that provides to all people, not just some, an essential of life. That essential is food.
As a farmer representing a rural area in a riding in southern Ontario, the riding of Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, the issue my motion addresses is significant and an important one not just for producers in my riding but as I have researched this issue, consulted with stakeholders and groups and sought information from government agencies and departments, it concludes and confirms to me that the issue is a long outstanding one. It is one that is continually hurting the competitiveness of Canadian producers from the west to the east.
This would apply to agriculture management tools which would include: fertilizers, seeds, feeds, veterinary medicines and vaccines that are regulated by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. It would also include pesticides governed by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, which is part of Health Canada.
To illustrate the problem, let me give an example. I will use the United States as a comparative country since our producers are most affected by it because it is the largest trading partner and where most or many manufacturers licence their products.
A manufacturer in the United States develops a new agriculture management tool. This tool is a product which will improve the health, quality, yield and competitiveness for producers in the United States, the very people that our producers in Canada must compete with for market share.
The United States has its own set of licensing and regulatory requirements, and so the company invests hundreds of thousands and sometimes even millions of dollars in scientific research in order to licence and register this product. The costs associated with the development of the independent science for licensing purposes is borne by the company and the decision to apply for the licensing and regulation of a product is usually made on the basis of a business case and would normally be one which justifies the expenditures.
In Canada, our producers look at this new production management tool and tell us that in order to be competitive in a global marketplace we need access to these same products. Then our producers tell this company that they want to be able to buy its product as well.
Unfortunately, in many cases our regulatory and licensing process tells the company that in order to licence and sell its product in Canada for the benefit of Canadian producers, it has to invest the same hundreds of thousands and in some cases even millions of dollars to redo the same science, collect the same data, and do the same research in Canada that it just did in the United States.
This most often results in the applicant choosing not to seek licensing in Canada. That is because the manufacturing company looks at the size of the Canadian market, which represents approximately 3% of the global market. Our market is just not large enough to make a good business case to justify the expense of duplicating the science. As a result, Canadian producers cannot get the product and they are put at a competitive disadvantage against those producers in the United States who they have to compete with in a global marketplace.
Even if a company does proceed through the licensing process, Canadian producers can still expect a very long wait for the product. In fact, our decision-making process can take up to at least 24 months which involves multiple production cycles in many cases and, as a result, significant lost income.
Ironically and most importantly, Canadians need to know that produce and commodities being imported into Canada, sitting on Canadian grocery shelves for consumption by Canadian families, most likely have been treated with these exact same products which are not licensed for the use by Canadian producers.
They have already undergone the research. They have been deemed safe by independent analysis. They have been licensed for use based on science, and as we know science does not change at the border.
I ask the House to join with me in supporting my motion which will enhance the competitiveness of Canadian producers by providing them with access to production management tools they cannot currently access and by shortening the length of time it takes for an applicant to have a product licensed in Canada.
The way my motion proposes to do this is by considering whenever and wherever possible harmonizing our regulatory and licensing processes with other jurisdictions by utilizing equivalent scientific research provided the product not only meets but in most cases exceeds Canadian standards and does not in any way compromise our Canadian standards.
Simply put, agriculture inputs are production management tools that improve the yield, the health and/or the quality of agriculture commodities. The fact that these production management tools must be regulated and licensed is a good thing and nothing in my motion diminishes that process in any way.
In particular, I want to note that the products I am referring to target the improvement of health, safety and the environment.
I have had many discussions about this issue with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency. They know and understand the concern. I believe that they have been diligent in trying to address this issue on a number of fronts, including an initiative called enhancing access to pest management tools.
The idea behind enhancing access is to build on international regulatory co-operation efforts and maximize the use of scientific assessment and data that support regulatory decisions taken in other countries to register new pesticides in Canada. That is a good idea.
One of the first efforts under that program was a series of grower-requested priority reviews, sometimes referred to as project 914. These reviews were conducted on products identified by the Canadian Horticultural Council as being high priorities for Canadian growers. These U.S. registered pesticides were assessed using primarily United States environmental protection act data, evaluation reports from recent registration or re-registration decisions. I applaud these initiatives.
I also know they have been conducting meetings with government bodies in other countries, with individual manufacturers and their representative organizations, and with Canadian stakeholder groups. Again, I commend them for all these good efforts.
However, there exists a significant technical gap where most manufacturers focus on larger international markets and not seek registration for their products in Canada. These are business decisions in part, but they are also influenced by the uncertainty resulting from perceived or actual differences between Canadian, U.S. and other country regulatory systems for pesticides.
My motion seeks to bridge this technical gap by paralleling our scientific and data evaluation for our licensing process from one that some view as arbitrary to one which provides a clear direction, as expressed by the will of the House that we should, in all relevant cases, utilize the scientific research that has already been independently conducted for these products. This process should apply to new products as well as existing ones.
As a government, I believe we have an obligation, wherever and wherever possible, to establish a framework that puts Canadians on equal footing with those we have to compete with in the marketplace.
In order to do that, my motion simply says that we should be able to use the same scientific research and data used to license a product developed in other jurisdictions in order to license a product in Canada provided we do not compromise any Canadian standards. My motion reads as follows:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should ensure that production management tools available to Canadian farmers are similar to those of other national jurisdictions by considering equivalent scientific research and agricultural regulatory approval processes by Health Canada, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
In summary, with respect to my motion, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Minister of Health and departmental officials at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Pest Management Regulatory Agency support my motion for these reasons.
First, it would not in any way change, diminish, modify or compromise Canadian standards. However, it does seek to end an unnecessary duplication in the evaluation of scientific data and thereby expedite the licensing of production management tools for Canadian farmers.
Second, it would allow Canada to develop a parallel licensing process that would be more effective and more efficient.
Third, it expresses the will of the House to federal departments and agencies that they need not reinvent the wheel by requiring the duplication of scientific research and data when considering the licensing of production management tools.
Fourth, it says to Canadian farmers that, as a Parliament, we are on their side and we want them to be able to compete on equal footing with the rest of the world in a global marketplace.
Fifth, it says to the applicant also that we can expedite the licensing of products, and this is a win-win situation not only for the applicant but for Canadian producers.
Sixth, it would not in any way affect Canada's sovereign right to make our own decisions.
I say, in all sincerity for members of the House, this is the right thing to do. I seek the support of the House to adopt my Motion No. 460.