The House of Commons has approved a motion encouraging the federal government to change regulations to give Canadian farmers access to the same inputs used by their foreign competitors.
In a voice vote April 16, Conservative and Liberal MPs supported a motion by rural Ontario Conservative backbencher Bev Shipley that Canada have “equivalent scientific research and agricultural regulatory approval processes” with competitor countries.
New Democrat and Bloc Québécois MPs opposed the motion because they said there was no guarantee it would not lower Canadian regulatory standards.
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The motion is not binding on the federal government, and Liberals questioned if the Conservative administration will act.
Supporters of the motion said Canadian regulations often deny farmers important inputs available elsewhere.
“Whether they need fertilizers, seeds, pesticides or veterinary drugs, it is our responsibility to ensure that the federal regulatory system provides Canadian farms with access to similar products that are used by competitors in foreign jurisdictions,” said Ontario Conservative Harold Albrecht.
If implemented, the motion would instruct Health Canada, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to harmonize their requirements where possible with rules in other countries, primarily the United States.
Government MPs insisted that would not come at the expense of Canadian standards, although it was not spelled out in the motion.
Liberal Francis Valeriote said existing rules penalize Canadian farmers.
“This becomes a particularly egregious situation when one recognizes that many farmers in other foreign countries that are Canada’s trading partners are often able to use commercial agricultural products like feed and fertilizers, for example, that are not available or allowed for use in Canada due to regulatory restrictions,” he said.
Foreign countries with access to different inputs “are allowed to export their eventual production into Canada to be sold in the Canadian market on our grocery store shelves, thereby creating an unfair competitive advantage against our own Canadian farmers,” he added.
Valeriote said the key is to end the need for Canada to replicate research and data used in other countries to approve products if it meets Canadian standards. He said the motion “is one step forward to correct this absurd and unfair predicament in which our Canadian farmers find themselves.”
When closing the debate, Shipley said the issue is making sure Canadian producers have the same production tools as their competitors.
While it is not in the motion, the Conservative MP advocated blocking imports from countries that use inputs not approved in Canada.
“The pork producer who has access to a medication in another country who failed to get licensed in Canada in my opinion should not be able to have his product come into Canada and sit on our grocery shelves in direct competition with our Canadian pork.”
