IN TIMES like these, farmers and ranchers save a buck wherever they can. Rules that allow the import of veterinary drugs from the United States, known as the own-use policy, are one way to do that. The policy allows producers to import such drugs in amounts sufficient for their own use but not for resale. This allows producers to realize major savings.
The down side for producers and the cattle industry is the potential trade risk with using a drug unapproved by the Canadian regulatory system. Such purchases also circumvent purchases from Canadian veterinary practices, potentially affecting their long-term viability.
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Ivermectin, a treatment for cattle parasites, is the most recent example of own-use imports noted in these pages. The treatment is approximately four times more expensive in Canada because the generic variety available in the U.S. has not yet been approved here for general sale and use.
Little wonder, then, that many producers and the volume purchasing group called Farmers of North America are exercising their legal option to buy the cheaper American product.
The option is likely to end soon. Health Canada has served notice that it intends to eliminate the own-use policy by next year, citing the need to ensure food safety. The department has a mandate to scientifically evaluate every veterinary drug and food additive to ensure it meets Canadian standards.
Are Canadian standards vastly different than or superior to American Food and Drug Administration standards?
Most cattle lobby groups don’t think so. Nor apparently does Health Canada’s own veterinary drug directorate, as indicated by its stated goal to move toward a harmonized system with the U.S.
The issue is time. Harmonization of rules governing veterinary drugs have been on the to-do list for years, but little progress is evident. A stakeholders debate on the issue last year indicated most industry players consider Canada’s drug approval process too slow, which gives the cost advantage to our southern neighbours.
If we consider American beef to be safe – and if we believe our own rhetoric about the North American cattle industry as spouted during the BSE crisis, we do consider it safe – then by extension we consider the use of this common cattle treatment to be safe as well.
Like Canada, the U.S. doesn’t allow the use of any products not approved by the FDA, and the FDA has approved the generic ivermectin now at issue.
If Health Canada intends to make good on its plan to harmonize its approval process with the U.S., it needs to set a deadline and meet it.
Until then, there appears to be little justification for eliminating the own-use policy so long as producers are aware of the risks and are prepared to accept them in exchange for cheaper veterinary drugs.
