International Trade committee  Until now, we've frequently evoked the COVID‑19 pandemic in support of the proposed regulations. Am I mistaken or did the United States say at some point that it would stop exporting sanitizing products and keep them for itself? I remember a time when there were empty shelves in the pharmacies. So it was the SMEs from here that had no expertise in this area and that had to turn on a dime and develop sanitizing products.

International Trade committee  Some areas of concern include wanting to bring in other products under this framework, perhaps sanitizers for air, water and other uses, other than hard- and soft-surface sanitizers. Some companies suggested that we should look at bringing in other products under the framework. Others wanted to see additional countries of reference listed, other than the United States.

International Trade committee  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.

International Trade committee  The American federation works a little differently from ours, so the jurisdiction can shift depending on the setting. For sanitizers that are used in a manufacturing facility, yes, there are state-level requirements that complicate the ability to do business. On the other hand, in the drug world and the health product world, generally speaking, the U.S. very much operates at a national level.

International Trade committee  It's generally a year to two years, so it's problematic to stockpile, just as there are, unfortunately, millions and millions of gallons of hand sanitizer that are out of date and sitting in warehouses all over the world—all over North America anyway. A possibility would be if could Canada make some of these raw materials. We make some.

International Trade committee  In a lot of communities across Canada, they went from manufacturing spirits to making hand sanitizer. Would they then still have the same issue of trying to get hold of those materials to manufacture? I'm just trying to drill down on that one, sir.

Health of Animals Act  Biosecurity is about preventing the movement of disease-causing agents on to and off of agricultural operations. The three key principles of effective biosecurity are isolation, traffic control and sanitation. At committee, we had a variety of witnesses, and many of those witnesses provided our committee with briefs. One of the organizations was Animal Justice. It provided a report from 2021 that looked at the disease outbreaks and biosecurity failures on Canadian farms.

International Trade committee  With respect to the disinfectants, I have never seen an industry work harder during a pandemic to be able to work with Health Canada to provide Canadians with the products they needed, whether in the hand sanitizer space or in disinfectants, due to the shortages we had. I see this as building on a really great collaboration that delivered for Canadians during a very difficult time, and the regulation really embodies that.

International Trade committee  The Canadian Institute of Forestry looked on its shelves and was able to put together a number of formulas to create barrels of hand sanitizers for our local community. I just want to see that happen expeditiously. I understand the frustration of our local companies that want to get into the American market, obviously. The U.S. is 10 times our size.

International Trade committee  Previous to this life, I used to work for the Economic Development Corporation in helping entrepreneurs start up and grow export and import. My question is perhaps for Shannon. During COVID-19 and the shortage that we had with sanitizers and the hoarding that was happening in the United States, people were publicly shamed, and they should have been. Obviously, both Americans and Canadians were trying to get their hands on literally anything, right?

International Trade committee  Côté said earlier, some products aren't currently approved by Health Canada. I'm thinking, for example, of food-contact surface sanitizers. They alone represent an enormous amount of extra work.

International Trade committee  Second, you need to consider the fact that Health Canada will be swimming in applications. The number of new applications for disinfectants and food-contact surface sanitizers has been estimated at more than 800. Consequently, Health Canada's system won't be able to meet the demand. As a result, approvals of Canadian products will be increasingly delayed because American products will be immediately recognized.

International Trade committee  The creation of a new category of regulated products will clog the file review process, particularly for food-contact surface sanitizers. In 2004, Health Canada began implementing the Natural Health Products Regulations, a process that took seven years. Implementation of the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations is still unfinished in 2023, five years after the process was announced in 2018.

International Trade committee  To our knowledge, there was no effect on the disinfectant and sanitizer side. We detected no change in the standard. They still had the same standards and performed the same science we would be relying on. It's worth saying that when COVID came along, we had to work very closely together, and it's probably a very good thing for product safety regulators to be that co-operative.

International Trade committee  We are looking at a transition period of four years for existing disinfectants and surface sanitizers and a bit more time—six years—for products that are used in food establishments.