This is the power of Pharma which grew exponentially over COVID and probably had a backroom deal with the government to locate Moderna factory here in exchange for choking out the supplement industry.....or some such unsavory deal. We have better drug prices here than in the US so perhaps in lieu of getting rid of socialized medicine at the very least we could sell more drugs. Western nations are completely broken. Time to move to a 3rd world country where there is hope.
Here is the response from Health Canada to an email I wrote asking them to identify the dangerous supplements which led to the need for increased regulations. Hint: they avoided that question entirely. I followed up this response with two points. 1) They didn't answer my question. Given they conducted a large study surely they can at least tell me what statistics they gathered as to identified health risks that promoted this massive and costly change to supplement regulations. 2) the pay to play new fee for services model they are introducing, has long been identified as a major conflict of interest in regulating the pharmaceutical industry with Health agencies serving the industry that funds them, rather than the citizens they serve. This fee is a dishonest way to collect more taxes to fund expanding bureaucracies, that do not wish to limit their spending. These fees are a disaster all the way around.
Look at the gobbly gook sustainable development jargon linking everything directly to the UN and WHO. The truth is, the pharmaceutical industry has drastically increased it's attack on the alternative care market during Covid, with Big tech censoring natural health information online and governments doing their part to ensure citizens do not take their health into their own hands. Covid was the example they want to set. Hide in fear and beg for Big Government and Big Pharma to save us, but never ever take your health into your own hands. The numerous regulations shoved into being during the Covid opportunity fundamentally alters our country and our relationship government. Government power has expanded drastically, and government is attempting to intervene in every aspect of life, while dramatically increasing taxes especially indirect taxes, burdening Canadians beyond anything we have seen before. As with all tyrannies, citizens are infantilized. This 'protecting Canadians from natural health products is about as infantile and corrupt as it gets. I will try to post Health Canada response in new comment. I will let you know if they ever try to answer the question as to who has been harmed by supplements. This email response should alarm us all:
Wow - what an evasive response! For some reason I expected a bit more from them, but nope, they completely dodged the question. It's a very simple ask, too. If they're incapable of answering directly, it might be worth it to submit a freedom of information request...
What email did you use to email them? You've inspired me to also reach out.
Yes, I can't believe how quickly big pharma has managed to completely stomp out these alternative markets.
And you said this so well: "Covid was the example they want to set. Hide in fear and beg for Big Government and Big Pharma to save us, but never ever take your health into your own hands. The numerous regulations shoved into being during the Covid opportunity fundamentally alters our country and our relationship government. Government power has expanded drastically, and government is attempting to intervene in every aspect of life, while dramatically increasing taxes especially indirect taxes, burdening Canadians beyond anything we have seen before. As with all tyrannies, citizens are infantilized" --
We are absolutely being infantilized. Completely agree.
Here are the two email address: One is Health Canada, the other is the task force for the natural health product legislation. It would be a good idea for people to let their feelings be known.
Health Agency capture is well understood to have been exacerbated when health agencies started collecting user fees in Canada and the US. Though this has been well documented, Health Canada is now introducing user fees for supplements.
Below find an excerpt from a quick online search:
"Over the past 35 years, patients have suffered from a largely hidden epidemic of side effects from drugs that usually have few offsetting benefits. The pharmaceutical industry has corrupted the practice of medicine through its influence over what drugs are developed, how they are tested, and how medical knowledge is created. Since 1906, heavy commercial influence has compromised congressional legislation to protect the public from unsafe drugs. The authorization of user fees in 1992 has turned drug companies into the FDA's prime clients, deepening the regulatory and cultural capture of the agency. Industry has demanded shorter average review times and, with less time to thoroughly review evidence, increased hospitalizations and deaths have resulted. Meeting the needs of the drug companies has taken priority over meeting the needs of patients. Unless this corruption of regulatory intent is reversed, the situation will continue to deteriorate. We offer practical suggestions including: separating the funding of clinical trials from their conduct, analysis, and publication; independent FDA leadership; full public funding for all FDA activities; measures to discourage R&D on drugs with few, if any, new clinical benefits; and the creation of a National Drug Safety Board"
What concerns me greatly is that this unnecessary step by Health Canada to restrict the ability for supplement companies to operate inside of Canada is in fact motivated by the pharmaceutical industry and not the health of Canadians. The pharmaceutical industry, is currently making an effort world wide, to go after the natural health market, in an effort to remove options that do not earn profits for pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical giants can easily overcome regulatory hurdles which are largely designed to limit competition.
Currently in Canada it is estimated that 10% of seniors are killed by prescription drugs, yet Health Canada has provided no evidence of any real harm caused to Canadians by any natural health products. Natural products are largely safe, any any regulation of these products should be geared to contaminants, much like the food industry. Soda is harmful to health but we allow it to be sold anyway. Moving supplements under drug regulations seems unreasonable and indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the products, to regulate them under therapeutic drug laws. Prescriptions drugs cause hundreds of thousands of deaths every year in the US and are one of the leading causes of death.
I am concerned most of all that Health Canada, does not seem to be interested in the general health and well being of Canadians. There was no daylight between the marketing of the Covid vaccine, by health agencies and the interests of the pharmaceutical industry. Needless to say, the Covid measures have done significant harm to Canadians, which overall can easily be measured by the increased excess deaths we are seeing in all age groups now, when we should in fact be seeing less excess deaths after a pandemic wave. Health Canada appears to be ignoring this alarming number of deaths. It’s far more concerning than any imagined (not actual) harms from taking natural health supplements
I would think that Health Canada would have its hands full seeking to understand and mitigate the needless excess deaths that are occurring and trying to assess what when wrong during Covid. It is alarming that our health agencies are not talking about this issue.
In addition, given the lack of data on the Covid vaccines prior to approval, combined with the utter failure to collect accurate post marketing data or even to count deaths in a consistent manner, I would think there would not be enough time or energy left to pivot into complicated new regulations for the low risk natural health product market. Unless of course, Health Canada is not separate from the pharmaceutical industry and has the same goals.
Health Canada, also claims to be concerned about evaluating risk versus reward for natural health products, but has fallen down on the job, when it came to assessing risk reward for the Covid vaccines, in different cohorts. Part of the problem however, lies in the fact that Health Canada never required the companies to provide the data needed to understand the risks or benefits of the Covid vaccines. Despite the false advertising to increase uptake, the truth is, no one really knows how effective or safe these products are. We just don’t have accurate data and it is now too late to ever get the data to know anything with certainty. Nevertheless these products have been launched into the population, with numerous new products based on a platform that has never been proven safe.
I worry that the pharmaceutical industry is directing Health Canada to take this step against natural health supplements ensuring that they will become much more scarce in Canada, as supplement companies pull out of the country, and those remaining become too expensive for most people. Currently studies estimate that 80% of Canadians take supplements. Health Canada acting much like a nanny state want to intervene in this process, to restrict supplement use and remove the option for many Canadians. One has to wonder why.
Canadians are under significant pressure at this time. The Covid fiasco has done immeasurable damage, and health agencies in Western nations have not behaved in a manner that engenders trust. This new direction of Health Canada to go after supplements rather than cleaning up it’s own act, and ensuring adequate regulations for pharmaceutical drugs—Which do kill 10’s of thousands of Canadians, does not seem to be a wise use of time and taxpayer dollars.
Thank you for your correspondence of September 5, 2023, regarding the regulation of natural health products.
Health Canada recognizes the importance of ensuring that natural health products (NHPs) available for sale in Canada are safe, effective, and accurately represented to consumers. All NHPs sold in Canada are subject to the Food and Drugs Act (FDA) and the Natural Health Products Regulations (NHPR). Together, the Act and the Regulations form the foundation of the Department’s core mandate, which is to protect the health and safety of people in Canada.
While NHPs are generally lower risk than other health products, they are not without risk. The Department has been working to introduce important improvements within the NHP Program to ensure that Canadians have access to a wide range of natural health products that are safe, effective, and of high quality.
Since 2016, Health Canada has been developing and consulting on the Self-Care Framework, with the intent to ensure that the regulatory oversight for self-care products – including NHPs – is proportional to risk. Advancing the Framework includes several phases of proposed policy, regulatory and operational changes to improve aspects of the program.
A number of the changes envisioned through the Self-Care Framework align with the recommendations of the recent 2021 audit of the NHP program by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD). The findings of the audit were reinforced by the report issued by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) in 2022. Specifically, the audit identified the need for:
• Increased oversight of the quality of NHPs,
• Greater monitoring of labels and advertising,
• Improved product labelling,
• A risk-based inspection program, and,
• Introduction of strengthened tools for compliance and enforcement.
In response to the audit, Health Canada committed to strengthening the identified areas for improvement. Notably, Health Canada also signaled it would seek to introduce fees for regulating NHPs, to provide predictable and sustainable funding for the needed program improvements and increased regulatory oversight. It also committed to advancing NHP labelling improvements and seeking to strengthen tools by extending to NHPs the powers conferred by the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa’s Law).
Health Canada acknowledges the concerns you have raised and would like to highlight the importance of some recent initiatives under the Self-Care Framework.
Improving Natural Health Product Labelling
In July 2022, Health Canada introduced new requirements to make natural health product labels easier for Canadians to read and understand. The amendments to the Natural Health Products Regulations to improve NHP labelling marked the first milestone in advancing the Self-care Framework and the Department’s response to the audit. The regulatory amendments to improve NHP labelling will allow for consistent and prominent labelling of key information and aims to support Canadians in selecting and safely using these products.
The amendments were developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders and include a range of flexibilities to minimize burden for industry, particularly for small and medium-sized companies. Significant effort was made to develop regulations that would not increase any unnecessary waste or have unintended environmental waste.
Through consultations, stakeholder feedback indicated that within a six-year timeframe, most companies will engage in some form of re-labelling, at a time most convenient for their business, regardless of the new requirements. Consequently, Health Canada has put in place a multi-year transition period ending June 2028 to allow time for companies to implement new labelling without having to dispose of existing label stock or without having to replace or relabel current stock on store shelves or already within the distribution chain. In addition, we have built in exemptions to enable the continued use of small packages.
Cost Recovery
NHPs are currently the only line of health products for which Health Canada does not charge any fees for its regulatory activities. Health Canada is proposing new fees for industry to start recouping a portion of the costs the Government spends to regulate natural health products. Cost recovery will also support the implementation of stronger and more robust tools and oversight to deal with health and safety issues related to NHPs. This will improve Health Canada’s ability to:
• detect and respond to quality issues;
• address issues of non-compliance for unlicensed products;
• prevent harmful products from making their way into the marketplace.
The Department acknowledges the key role that small businesses play in the NHP marketplace and is considering a number of measures to help alleviate the impact of these fees on businesses, such as fee reductions for small businesses ranging between 25% to 50%, or a full waiver for small businesses marketing their first product.
As part of its ongoing commitment to meaningful consultation and transparency, Health Canada published a fee proposal for consultation this summer. At this time, Health Canada is actively reviewing thousands of comments on the fee proposal to determine a way forward that protects Canadians and supports businesses. The feedback received will be used to refine the proposal as the Department seeks to implement fees that reflect the NHP program in a fair and transparent way.
The 2021 audit of the NHP program by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) found gaps in the compliance and oversight of NHPs. In response to the audit, Health Canada committed to taking steps to strengthen the department’s ability to deter and address non-compliance, which included moving forward with a proposal to extend to NHPs the use of powers under the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa’s Law).
In June 2023, we passed legislation allowing us to take more action should a serious risk to health be identified with a natural health product (Vanessa’s Law). This would let us order a recall of a product if necessary, which we couldn’t do before. These actions would generally only be used when a serious risk is identified and only if a company refused to partake in voluntary mechanisms, as is the typical accepted practice.
Health Canada notes that there are many important initiatives underway for NHPs to successfully implement the Self-Care Framework and CESD audit recommendations. Ensuring a safe marketplace for Canadians, while minimizing burden to the extent possible, remains a top priority for Health Canada as it implements these changes to strengthen the NHP program.
The Department understands the importance of engaging in a fair and transparent manner, and we will continue to work with stakeholders to move forward with key initiatives that are fundamental to modernizing the oversight of NHPs.
The Database contains information about NHPs, including risk information associated with the product's use, that have been issued a produce licence by Health Canada.
Thank you for your correspondence.
Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate Consultation
Maybe the Canadian people should stop being so nice and start tarring and feathering the elected servants that are trying to kill them. It's not a good thing for your slaves to be healthy, they need to be just strong enough to work, but not strong enough to fight.
I often hear a variation of 'Canadians should fight...' or 'Canadians shouldn't elect leaders like Trudeau....' But I'm curious what you would propose we actually do? The electoral system is a joke. The major political parties are virtually identical (as much as people may deny it). I personally think the best thing we can do is be as self-sufficient as possible. Be self-reliant but also find likeminded people who are skilled, critical thinkers, etc. and 'go back to the land'. Barring that, I can't honestly think of anything else Canadians can do.
At the same time, I do blame Canadians as equally I do our leaders -- far too many of us are hyperfocused on the United States or other spectacle-type distractions (i.e., Trump), and are completely blind to what our own country is doing. This country has changed a lot (though I've never held a particular affinity to being Canadian) -- to ignore it would be foolish.
Just that. Give your elected crybabies the finger, or whatever you Canucks feel is rude and insulting. I mean, you could get weapons and go full 1776, but then we'd have to do the same, and I don't think many of my countrymen would want to fight the crybabies in DC.
Yeah, disappear into the countryside and live like your government doesn't exist.
I really can't blame you for who you guys voted in. You had a "Lesser of two evils" choice and for some reason Fidel Jr seemed less evil?
I can't even blame us for the demented moron that 70million people voted in. They weren't voting for Hair sniffer, they were voting against Trump.
I think I mentioned this to someone else, but Trudeau only got about 32% of the popular vote. That's part of the reason why our electoral system needs to be reformed.
But yeah, unfortunately you guys are dealt the same cards: You have to choose between the lesser of two evils. And that's where we're at!
By the way I just wrote Heath Canada an email. Said I just discovered the government was enacting strict regulations to combat the proliferation of dangerous supplements and that as a regular supplement user I was very concerned. Then based on this article I asked for a list of the most dangerous suppleness sold in Canada and how many deaths were attributed to each of them. Can’t wait to hear what they say.
That's a fantastic idea. I'm very curious to hear what they say about the deaths attributed to supplements. Please keep me posted here if you hear anything back!
Just another tidbit to show just how manipulative our government has become. New reporting rules, are being introduced to require health care providers to collect data on supplement use that coincides with an adverse health event. This is to be used the same way hate statistics are being used. Mandate a new procedure that increases the number of incidents that are recorded as hate incidences, then claim that hate incidents are in the rise. Use the statistics to take action on censorship.
As someone from south of the border with ancestral roots in Canada, it saddens & angers me deeply what that tin-pot tyrant Trudeau has done to Canada.
This is the power of Pharma which grew exponentially over COVID and probably had a backroom deal with the government to locate Moderna factory here in exchange for choking out the supplement industry.....or some such unsavory deal. We have better drug prices here than in the US so perhaps in lieu of getting rid of socialized medicine at the very least we could sell more drugs. Western nations are completely broken. Time to move to a 3rd world country where there is hope.
Here is the response from Health Canada to an email I wrote asking them to identify the dangerous supplements which led to the need for increased regulations. Hint: they avoided that question entirely. I followed up this response with two points. 1) They didn't answer my question. Given they conducted a large study surely they can at least tell me what statistics they gathered as to identified health risks that promoted this massive and costly change to supplement regulations. 2) the pay to play new fee for services model they are introducing, has long been identified as a major conflict of interest in regulating the pharmaceutical industry with Health agencies serving the industry that funds them, rather than the citizens they serve. This fee is a dishonest way to collect more taxes to fund expanding bureaucracies, that do not wish to limit their spending. These fees are a disaster all the way around.
Look at the gobbly gook sustainable development jargon linking everything directly to the UN and WHO. The truth is, the pharmaceutical industry has drastically increased it's attack on the alternative care market during Covid, with Big tech censoring natural health information online and governments doing their part to ensure citizens do not take their health into their own hands. Covid was the example they want to set. Hide in fear and beg for Big Government and Big Pharma to save us, but never ever take your health into your own hands. The numerous regulations shoved into being during the Covid opportunity fundamentally alters our country and our relationship government. Government power has expanded drastically, and government is attempting to intervene in every aspect of life, while dramatically increasing taxes especially indirect taxes, burdening Canadians beyond anything we have seen before. As with all tyrannies, citizens are infantilized. This 'protecting Canadians from natural health products is about as infantile and corrupt as it gets. I will try to post Health Canada response in new comment. I will let you know if they ever try to answer the question as to who has been harmed by supplements. This email response should alarm us all:
Wow - what an evasive response! For some reason I expected a bit more from them, but nope, they completely dodged the question. It's a very simple ask, too. If they're incapable of answering directly, it might be worth it to submit a freedom of information request...
What email did you use to email them? You've inspired me to also reach out.
Yes, I can't believe how quickly big pharma has managed to completely stomp out these alternative markets.
And you said this so well: "Covid was the example they want to set. Hide in fear and beg for Big Government and Big Pharma to save us, but never ever take your health into your own hands. The numerous regulations shoved into being during the Covid opportunity fundamentally alters our country and our relationship government. Government power has expanded drastically, and government is attempting to intervene in every aspect of life, while dramatically increasing taxes especially indirect taxes, burdening Canadians beyond anything we have seen before. As with all tyrannies, citizens are infantilized" --
We are absolutely being infantilized. Completely agree.
Here are the two email address: One is Health Canada, the other is the task force for the natural health product legislation. It would be a good idea for people to let their feelings be known.
hcinfo.infosc@canada.ca
nnhpd.consultation-dpsnso@hc-sc.gc.ca
This was my email response:
Health Agency capture is well understood to have been exacerbated when health agencies started collecting user fees in Canada and the US. Though this has been well documented, Health Canada is now introducing user fees for supplements.
Below find an excerpt from a quick online search:
"Over the past 35 years, patients have suffered from a largely hidden epidemic of side effects from drugs that usually have few offsetting benefits. The pharmaceutical industry has corrupted the practice of medicine through its influence over what drugs are developed, how they are tested, and how medical knowledge is created. Since 1906, heavy commercial influence has compromised congressional legislation to protect the public from unsafe drugs. The authorization of user fees in 1992 has turned drug companies into the FDA's prime clients, deepening the regulatory and cultural capture of the agency. Industry has demanded shorter average review times and, with less time to thoroughly review evidence, increased hospitalizations and deaths have resulted. Meeting the needs of the drug companies has taken priority over meeting the needs of patients. Unless this corruption of regulatory intent is reversed, the situation will continue to deteriorate. We offer practical suggestions including: separating the funding of clinical trials from their conduct, analysis, and publication; independent FDA leadership; full public funding for all FDA activities; measures to discourage R&D on drugs with few, if any, new clinical benefits; and the creation of a National Drug Safety Board"
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257309170_Institutional_Corruption_of_Pharmaceuticals_and_the_Myth_of_Safe_and_Effective_Drugs
What concerns me greatly is that this unnecessary step by Health Canada to restrict the ability for supplement companies to operate inside of Canada is in fact motivated by the pharmaceutical industry and not the health of Canadians. The pharmaceutical industry, is currently making an effort world wide, to go after the natural health market, in an effort to remove options that do not earn profits for pharmaceutical industry. Pharmaceutical giants can easily overcome regulatory hurdles which are largely designed to limit competition.
Currently in Canada it is estimated that 10% of seniors are killed by prescription drugs, yet Health Canada has provided no evidence of any real harm caused to Canadians by any natural health products. Natural products are largely safe, any any regulation of these products should be geared to contaminants, much like the food industry. Soda is harmful to health but we allow it to be sold anyway. Moving supplements under drug regulations seems unreasonable and indicates a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the products, to regulate them under therapeutic drug laws. Prescriptions drugs cause hundreds of thousands of deaths every year in the US and are one of the leading causes of death.
I am concerned most of all that Health Canada, does not seem to be interested in the general health and well being of Canadians. There was no daylight between the marketing of the Covid vaccine, by health agencies and the interests of the pharmaceutical industry. Needless to say, the Covid measures have done significant harm to Canadians, which overall can easily be measured by the increased excess deaths we are seeing in all age groups now, when we should in fact be seeing less excess deaths after a pandemic wave. Health Canada appears to be ignoring this alarming number of deaths. It’s far more concerning than any imagined (not actual) harms from taking natural health supplements
I would think that Health Canada would have its hands full seeking to understand and mitigate the needless excess deaths that are occurring and trying to assess what when wrong during Covid. It is alarming that our health agencies are not talking about this issue.
In addition, given the lack of data on the Covid vaccines prior to approval, combined with the utter failure to collect accurate post marketing data or even to count deaths in a consistent manner, I would think there would not be enough time or energy left to pivot into complicated new regulations for the low risk natural health product market. Unless of course, Health Canada is not separate from the pharmaceutical industry and has the same goals.
Health Canada, also claims to be concerned about evaluating risk versus reward for natural health products, but has fallen down on the job, when it came to assessing risk reward for the Covid vaccines, in different cohorts. Part of the problem however, lies in the fact that Health Canada never required the companies to provide the data needed to understand the risks or benefits of the Covid vaccines. Despite the false advertising to increase uptake, the truth is, no one really knows how effective or safe these products are. We just don’t have accurate data and it is now too late to ever get the data to know anything with certainty. Nevertheless these products have been launched into the population, with numerous new products based on a platform that has never been proven safe.
I worry that the pharmaceutical industry is directing Health Canada to take this step against natural health supplements ensuring that they will become much more scarce in Canada, as supplement companies pull out of the country, and those remaining become too expensive for most people. Currently studies estimate that 80% of Canadians take supplements. Health Canada acting much like a nanny state want to intervene in this process, to restrict supplement use and remove the option for many Canadians. One has to wonder why.
Canadians are under significant pressure at this time. The Covid fiasco has done immeasurable damage, and health agencies in Western nations have not behaved in a manner that engenders trust. This new direction of Health Canada to go after supplements rather than cleaning up it’s own act, and ensuring adequate regulations for pharmaceutical drugs—Which do kill 10’s of thousands of Canadians, does not seem to be a wise use of time and taxpayer dollars.
Sincerely,
Good morning,
Thank you for your correspondence of September 5, 2023, regarding the regulation of natural health products.
Health Canada recognizes the importance of ensuring that natural health products (NHPs) available for sale in Canada are safe, effective, and accurately represented to consumers. All NHPs sold in Canada are subject to the Food and Drugs Act (FDA) and the Natural Health Products Regulations (NHPR). Together, the Act and the Regulations form the foundation of the Department’s core mandate, which is to protect the health and safety of people in Canada.
While NHPs are generally lower risk than other health products, they are not without risk. The Department has been working to introduce important improvements within the NHP Program to ensure that Canadians have access to a wide range of natural health products that are safe, effective, and of high quality.
Since 2016, Health Canada has been developing and consulting on the Self-Care Framework, with the intent to ensure that the regulatory oversight for self-care products – including NHPs – is proportional to risk. Advancing the Framework includes several phases of proposed policy, regulatory and operational changes to improve aspects of the program.
A number of the changes envisioned through the Self-Care Framework align with the recommendations of the recent 2021 audit of the NHP program by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD). The findings of the audit were reinforced by the report issued by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) in 2022. Specifically, the audit identified the need for:
• Increased oversight of the quality of NHPs,
• Greater monitoring of labels and advertising,
• Improved product labelling,
• A risk-based inspection program, and,
• Introduction of strengthened tools for compliance and enforcement.
In response to the audit, Health Canada committed to strengthening the identified areas for improvement. Notably, Health Canada also signaled it would seek to introduce fees for regulating NHPs, to provide predictable and sustainable funding for the needed program improvements and increased regulatory oversight. It also committed to advancing NHP labelling improvements and seeking to strengthen tools by extending to NHPs the powers conferred by the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa’s Law).
Health Canada acknowledges the concerns you have raised and would like to highlight the importance of some recent initiatives under the Self-Care Framework.
Improving Natural Health Product Labelling
In July 2022, Health Canada introduced new requirements to make natural health product labels easier for Canadians to read and understand. The amendments to the Natural Health Products Regulations to improve NHP labelling marked the first milestone in advancing the Self-care Framework and the Department’s response to the audit. The regulatory amendments to improve NHP labelling will allow for consistent and prominent labelling of key information and aims to support Canadians in selecting and safely using these products.
The amendments were developed through extensive consultation with stakeholders and include a range of flexibilities to minimize burden for industry, particularly for small and medium-sized companies. Significant effort was made to develop regulations that would not increase any unnecessary waste or have unintended environmental waste.
Through consultations, stakeholder feedback indicated that within a six-year timeframe, most companies will engage in some form of re-labelling, at a time most convenient for their business, regardless of the new requirements. Consequently, Health Canada has put in place a multi-year transition period ending June 2028 to allow time for companies to implement new labelling without having to dispose of existing label stock or without having to replace or relabel current stock on store shelves or already within the distribution chain. In addition, we have built in exemptions to enable the continued use of small packages.
Cost Recovery
NHPs are currently the only line of health products for which Health Canada does not charge any fees for its regulatory activities. Health Canada is proposing new fees for industry to start recouping a portion of the costs the Government spends to regulate natural health products. Cost recovery will also support the implementation of stronger and more robust tools and oversight to deal with health and safety issues related to NHPs. This will improve Health Canada’s ability to:
• detect and respond to quality issues;
• address issues of non-compliance for unlicensed products;
• prevent harmful products from making their way into the marketplace.
The Department acknowledges the key role that small businesses play in the NHP marketplace and is considering a number of measures to help alleviate the impact of these fees on businesses, such as fee reductions for small businesses ranging between 25% to 50%, or a full waiver for small businesses marketing their first product.
As part of its ongoing commitment to meaningful consultation and transparency, Health Canada published a fee proposal for consultation this summer. At this time, Health Canada is actively reviewing thousands of comments on the fee proposal to determine a way forward that protects Canadians and supports businesses. The feedback received will be used to refine the proposal as the Department seeks to implement fees that reflect the NHP program in a fair and transparent way.
Strengthening post-market oversight (Vanessa’s Law)
The 2021 audit of the NHP program by the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development (CESD) found gaps in the compliance and oversight of NHPs. In response to the audit, Health Canada committed to taking steps to strengthen the department’s ability to deter and address non-compliance, which included moving forward with a proposal to extend to NHPs the use of powers under the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act (Vanessa’s Law).
In June 2023, we passed legislation allowing us to take more action should a serious risk to health be identified with a natural health product (Vanessa’s Law). This would let us order a recall of a product if necessary, which we couldn’t do before. These actions would generally only be used when a serious risk is identified and only if a company refused to partake in voluntary mechanisms, as is the typical accepted practice.
Health Canada notes that there are many important initiatives underway for NHPs to successfully implement the Self-Care Framework and CESD audit recommendations. Ensuring a safe marketplace for Canadians, while minimizing burden to the extent possible, remains a top priority for Health Canada as it implements these changes to strengthen the NHP program.
The Department understands the importance of engaging in a fair and transparent manner, and we will continue to work with stakeholders to move forward with key initiatives that are fundamental to modernizing the oversight of NHPs.
To find out more about specific NHPs, please visit our Licensed Natural Health Products Database: https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/natural-non-prescription/applications-submissions/product-licensing/licensed-natural-health-products-database.html
The Database contains information about NHPs, including risk information associated with the product's use, that have been issued a produce licence by Health Canada.
Thank you for your correspondence.
Natural and Non-prescription Health Products Directorate Consultation
Health Canada, Government of Canada
nnhpd.consultation-dpsnso@hc-sc.gc.ca
Direction des Produits de santé naturels et sans ordonnance consultation
Santé Canada, Gouvernement du Canada
nnhpd.consultation-dpsnso@hc-sc.gc.ca
Heath Canada response.
Maybe the Canadian people should stop being so nice and start tarring and feathering the elected servants that are trying to kill them. It's not a good thing for your slaves to be healthy, they need to be just strong enough to work, but not strong enough to fight.
I often hear a variation of 'Canadians should fight...' or 'Canadians shouldn't elect leaders like Trudeau....' But I'm curious what you would propose we actually do? The electoral system is a joke. The major political parties are virtually identical (as much as people may deny it). I personally think the best thing we can do is be as self-sufficient as possible. Be self-reliant but also find likeminded people who are skilled, critical thinkers, etc. and 'go back to the land'. Barring that, I can't honestly think of anything else Canadians can do.
At the same time, I do blame Canadians as equally I do our leaders -- far too many of us are hyperfocused on the United States or other spectacle-type distractions (i.e., Trump), and are completely blind to what our own country is doing. This country has changed a lot (though I've never held a particular affinity to being Canadian) -- to ignore it would be foolish.
Just that. Give your elected crybabies the finger, or whatever you Canucks feel is rude and insulting. I mean, you could get weapons and go full 1776, but then we'd have to do the same, and I don't think many of my countrymen would want to fight the crybabies in DC.
Yeah, disappear into the countryside and live like your government doesn't exist.
I really can't blame you for who you guys voted in. You had a "Lesser of two evils" choice and for some reason Fidel Jr seemed less evil?
I can't even blame us for the demented moron that 70million people voted in. They weren't voting for Hair sniffer, they were voting against Trump.
I think I mentioned this to someone else, but Trudeau only got about 32% of the popular vote. That's part of the reason why our electoral system needs to be reformed.
But yeah, unfortunately you guys are dealt the same cards: You have to choose between the lesser of two evils. And that's where we're at!
By the way I just wrote Heath Canada an email. Said I just discovered the government was enacting strict regulations to combat the proliferation of dangerous supplements and that as a regular supplement user I was very concerned. Then based on this article I asked for a list of the most dangerous suppleness sold in Canada and how many deaths were attributed to each of them. Can’t wait to hear what they say.
That's a fantastic idea. I'm very curious to hear what they say about the deaths attributed to supplements. Please keep me posted here if you hear anything back!
Last time I emailed Health Canada it took a few weeks but they did respond. I will absolutely post the response.
Just another tidbit to show just how manipulative our government has become. New reporting rules, are being introduced to require health care providers to collect data on supplement use that coincides with an adverse health event. This is to be used the same way hate statistics are being used. Mandate a new procedure that increases the number of incidents that are recorded as hate incidences, then claim that hate incidents are in the rise. Use the statistics to take action on censorship.
That is a very good point.