While the rest of Canada is seized with an existential threat from our largest trading partner, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is busy adding layers of red tape and costs that threaten the competitiveness of Canadian farmers. It is quickly moving forward with the final stages of its Transformation Agenda, which is out of touch with the current government and industry focus on driving economic growth and competitiveness for Canada. These changes will only serve to keep crop protection innovation out of Canada, removing valuable tools farmers need to continue to provide the healthiest, safest and most abundant food products possible.
For almost three years the PMRA has been implementing its so-called 'Transformation Agenda', which was introduced during the last federal election campaign. It has seen tens of millions of dollars spend and a ballooning headcount, which frustratingly has been mainly in policy and managerial positions and not at the scientific evaluation level, all while PMRA's core performance drops. The concerns raised by agriculture stakeholders have been sidelined or ignored.
The final straw has been the PMRA's proposal to raise the fees it charges to registrants, which could make it up to four times more expensive to keep a product registered in Canada. This would make it significantly more expensive to keep a product registered in Canada than in the U.S., which is a market 10 times the size. This will delay and possibly drive innovation out of Canada, threatening the competitiveness of Canadian farmers.
An immediate pause on all activities in the Transformation Agenda;
The withdrawal of the fee increase proposal, which is currently in the Canada Gazette process to become law; and,
Ministerial oversight to bring about positive change in the PMRA where it has the long-term ability to fulfill its scientific, health and environmental protection mandate while enabling the growth of Canadian agriculture.
Now is not the time to add additional unnecessary layers of regulatory burden that will stifle business and innovation. Now is the time for Canada to focus squarely on the things within its control, which includes reducing red tape.
