Turmoil in Health Canada’s health protection branch likely has delayed once again a government decision on whether bovine somatotropin can be sold to Canadian dairy farmers, say dairy industry and political observers.
Although a decision was expected this month, plans to close department labs, along with questions about the integrity of Health Canada’s scientific work, has thrown the department’s drug approval process into crisis.
Last week, health minister Allan Rock announced a six-month halt in budget cuts and a three-year project to strengthen the scientific base and credibility of the health protection branch.
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For Michael McBane, national co-ordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition, it means controversial consumer-sensitive decisions are unlikely soon.
“I would be extremely surprised to see a BST announcement now,” he said Sept. 29. “The department is in crisis, consumer confidence would be crucial and they now have a politically sensitive minister.”
Either way, Sundre, Alta. dairy farmer Bruce Beattie figures it merely delays the inevitable.
Like many in the dairy industry, he believes BST, which can increase a cow’s milk production, will be approved for use in Canada someday, as it was in the United States almost four years ago.
It is a rendezvous with technology that Beattie fears, as dairy processors and consumers predict a consumer reaction against milk produced with the aid of drugs.
“I am pretty much convinced it will be licensed eventually, unless some major problem develops in the States,” he said.
“I don’t expect that. I do think it will make consumers more suspicious of our product and I do expect it will increase pressure on us to set up a parallel pooling system of BST-free milk.”
In the U.S., there has been no sharp reduction in consumer dairy purchases, despite similar predictions before the 1994 introduction of BST. However, there has been successful pressure in some states to force dairies to market a BST-free product.
Issue hits home
Beattie doesn’t have to look far to find reason for his unease.
“I have family members who live in urban
areas and they have concerns with the product,” he said.
Still, Beattie says he probably would use BST if it is approved, because other farmers will. It promises to increase production from some cows and extend the productive life of others.
Leo Bertoia, who operates a 60-cow milking herd at Langham, Sask., takes the same practical approach to the controversial technology. While wary about consumer reaction, he may use it.
“It will be up to Health Canada to explain their decision to license. It will be up to each farmer to assess it, whether it will work for them,” he said.
“It is no different from any other management tool we have.”
