…But You Don’t Have To
By: Joel Thuna
If the Canadian government gets its way, over 80% of supplements on store shelves will soon disappear and those that are left will be significantly more expensive. Health Canada wants hundreds of millions of dollars from health supplements. It isn’t satisfied with the $6.7 Billion it got from Canadian taxpayers this year. Health Canada is growing in size and expense at an alarming rate, and you the Canadian taxpayer are paying for it.
In 2017, Health Canada’s budget was $3.5 Billion, with just over 8,000 employees (FTE). Today its budget is $6.7 Billion with over 9,500 employees. It now wants to get significantly more from Natural Health Products (“NHPs”) to help fund its continued out of control, self-serving growth. The hundreds of millions of dollars that Health Canada wants from NHPs won’t go to improving product safety (Canada already has some of the safest health products in the world) or go to improving license approvals (Health Canada has proposed high fees and slowing down the pace of application reviews). It will go to help Health Canada get larger and spend more of your money. This is because Health Canada’s proposed changes to the regulation of NHPs will result in severe cost increases of all supplements.
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
Health Canada is making multiple, significant and expensive regulatory changes to NHPs. These unnecessary changes will treat NHPs like pharmaceutical drugs. Should your collagen, fibre, vitamin C, turmeric, chlorophyll, magnesium and milk thistle be treated the same as oxymetazoline, diphenhydramine, naproxen, and diclofenac? This extreme over-regulation will lead to most brands leaving Canada and massive cost increases in the few brands that are left. In the end, most of the supplements you want will be gone and the few that remain will be either watered down, significantly more expensive, or both.
It looks like Health Canada wants to price and regulate supplements out of existence. Their cost proposal is untenable. They want to charge everyone involved in bringing a NHP to consumers annual fees for the right to exist (manufacturers, packagers, importers, and distributors) up to $23,071, plus an additional fee for each individual supplement license (over $500 each year). Additionally they want to charge onerous fees just to apply for new product licenses. This ‘fee to apply’ system provides significant incentive to reject applications, forcing brands to reapply (and pay again) with no assurance they will ever receive the license. For innovative products this cost is $58,332 each time you apply.
These fees are significant. Over 80% of the industry is small and medium size businesses. Like most, these businesses struggled the last 3 years and are now hoping to recover. These companies can’t afford massive bills from Health Canada. Some small businesses calculate these bills at over $300,000 each year. This is on top of all the taxes these companies already pay to fund the federal government, including Health Canada.
Adding insult to injury, Health Canada is planning on reducing its level of service (which already has a significant backlog). In many cases, product applications already take over a year to review!
In addition to these ‘up front’ Health Canada fees, there are a multitude of hidden extra fees. Health Canada is mandating that all product labels be changed. These changes require substantially larger labels without providing any significant additional information. For some NHPs this will require doubling the package (bottle) size simply to accommodate a larger label. You’ll still get your 60 capsules or tablets, but now in a bottle that can hold 200. This will cause a massive increase in the amount (and cost) of packaging used as well as the space required to ship products – both of which are wasteful, expensive and harmful for the environment. On top of this, redesigning each label (which will need regulatory approval) adds up. In some cases this could cost small businesses over $200,000 in the first year.
These regulatory changes are unfair, unrealistic, and so costly they will force many businesses to shut down Canadian operations. Businesses that manage to stay open will struggle to stay afloat, prices will increase, and product availability will suffer. You will all have less access to NHPs and pay much more for the few products that remain available.
These changes won’t improve product safety or efficacy. Right now, Canada enjoys some of the best supplements in the world. This is because we have many small, innovative brands that adhere to realistic regulations. Current regulations require products, manufacturers, importers and distributors to register with Health Canada, maintain licences and follow rules, which already includes requiring Health Canada approvals of formulas (to ensure safety and efficacy), claims, cautions, and labels.
HOW WILL THE CHANGES AFFECT YOU?
These changes are all happening at once, and their combined effects are bad for Canada and you. The net results for NHPs will be reduced product options, reduced product innovation, reduced product quality and the few products that are left will cost you significantly more!
Increased Prices & Lack of Availability
Many brands available today will see dramatic price increases or stop existing in Canada altogether.
Decreased Product Choice
Brands will face difficult decisions regarding their profitability. More than 70% of surveyed companies said they would need to remove their products from the Canadian market.
No Love for Local
Canada has some of the most innovative supplement companies. For the most part (over 80%) these are small, local businesses that will not be able to navigate or afford increasingly complex and expensive regulations. They will be priced out of business, further limiting the product choice and innovation.
Nothing New
1 out of 5 brands are thinking about leaving the Canadian market. Exciting new international brands will likely not come to Canada because the regulatory burden and costs will be too severe.
Environmental Burden
New labelling requirements are dramatically increasing the amount of packaging (for the same amount of product), reducing recyclability, adversely impacting the environment and further increasing costs.
Strangled by Red Tape
Red tape will make it harder for brands. Not just a higher cost of doing business but also increased packaging and label sizes, these issues will result in price increases and brands to rethink the viability of many products, both existing and future.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- Tell your Member of Parliament how important supplements are to YOU and that NOW is not the time to raise prices and limit product availability for NHPs. Send a letter via the SOS Website. It will take under 1 minute.
- Follow up by calling your Member of Parliament to tell them your concerns. This lets them know that supplements are important to you and your family.
- Talk to your local Health food store / supplement store / gym etc. Tell them your concerns and ask them to get involved. If enough Canadians let their voices be heard, Parliament will put a stop to this and Save Our Supplements.
Joel Thuna, MH, is a master herbalist with over 30 years of experience. www.globalbotanical.com
