An advocate for natural health products says lines snuck into the federal budget will kill their industry unless some portions can be repealed. .The federal budget, Bill C-47, passed June 22, amended the Food and Drugs Act regarding natural health products. Lines 500 to 504 redefined a “therapeutic product” beyond “any combination of drugs and devices” to include “a natural health product,” something the previous law explicitly excluded..The Natural Health Products Protection Association (NHPPA) opposed this part of the budget bill and launched a postcard campaign calling for the lines to be removed from the bill. Now that they have become law, the NHPPA wants them repealed..“All the things that we didn’t want to have happen to the natural health product industry are now happening — all at once,” warns the NHPPA on its website..“Now, in what feels like one fell swoop, Health Canada is moving forward with multiple initiatives that will assault the natural health industry and consumer access to natural health products and practices…If Canadians allow these changes to occur, it will be the end of the natural health product industry as we know it.”.A recent discussion paper by the organization says that treating health foods like drugs is not warranted by the risk. Now health foods, used by practitioners of homeopathic or Chinese traditional medicine for centuries, will have to go through expensive clinical trials before Health Canada will approve them. Their uses will be severely restricted also..“Whereas now it is functionally illegal to treat serious health conditions with natural products, it will become functionally illegal to treat anything but the most minor of conditions with natural products,” predicts the NHPPA paper..“This is the end of the Natural Health Community. We strongly recommend stocking up on all natural health products that you rely upon for your life and health while you still can.”.To recover costs for the regulations just created, Health Canada would impose a fee schedule that would drive up costs–and, according to the NHPPA, push most stores out of business. On August 10, the federal government will conclude public feedback on the proposed fees which would come into effect April 1, 2025..Whereas health food stores formerly faced a maximum $5,000 fine for contravening regulations, the upcoming burden will be 1,000 times as steep..“Health Canada will get almost God-like powers. They can order you to take any ‘corrective action’. Failure to comply can result in $5,000,000 a day fines,” the NHPPA paper warns..Freedom of Information requests by health food manfacturer and retailer Deane Parkes, outlined in a 2019 NHPPA paper, showed that four leading Health Canada bureaucrats met with then-health minister Jane Philipott in 2016 to extend the drug regulations to health foods. After a 45-minute conversation, the minister agreed..In an interview with the Western Standard, NHPPA president Shawn Buckley said the changes would have come sooner if not for the pandemic..“When Health Canada's marching across the country in 2017 explaining to the natural health industry the self-care framework, they were saying this is non negotiable…So there was no consultation. It’s being imposed from above,” Buckley said..Canadians’ health will suffer from such changes, he added..“There isn’t a condition that these things don't treat,” Buckley said, naming bipolar disorder, arthritis, and alternatives to statins among them. .“It boggles the mind how effective many of these treatments are. It can be night and day, right? Like a switch going off.”.In addition to having the federal budget lines and associated fees and fines revoked, the NHPPA wants natural products and non-prescription chemical drugs put under a single set of regulations. They also want Ottawa to adopt its charter of health freedom, which has laready garnered over 111,500 signatories in support..The organization has set up an action page with a citizens’ petition kit, a store and clinic support kit, means to write MPs and Health Canada bureaucrats, and an emergency kit for “Health Canada raids.”.Buckley, a lawyer who formerly worked for Health Canada, said a successful campaign could take months to get adequate momentum..“It's going to take a citizen rebellion like we've never seen before. And the two largest citizen rebellions in my lifetime have been on this issue,” Buckley said, referring to attempts by Ottawa in the mid-90’s and 2008 to introduce similar legislation..“This is do or die. This is the end game to move us fully into a chemical model for treating anything reasonably important to us health wise.”
An advocate for natural health products says lines snuck into the federal budget will kill their industry unless some portions can be repealed. .The federal budget, Bill C-47, passed June 22, amended the Food and Drugs Act regarding natural health products. Lines 500 to 504 redefined a “therapeutic product” beyond “any combination of drugs and devices” to include “a natural health product,” something the previous law explicitly excluded..The Natural Health Products Protection Association (NHPPA) opposed this part of the budget bill and launched a postcard campaign calling for the lines to be removed from the bill. Now that they have become law, the NHPPA wants them repealed..“All the things that we didn’t want to have happen to the natural health product industry are now happening — all at once,” warns the NHPPA on its website..“Now, in what feels like one fell swoop, Health Canada is moving forward with multiple initiatives that will assault the natural health industry and consumer access to natural health products and practices…If Canadians allow these changes to occur, it will be the end of the natural health product industry as we know it.”.A recent discussion paper by the organization says that treating health foods like drugs is not warranted by the risk. Now health foods, used by practitioners of homeopathic or Chinese traditional medicine for centuries, will have to go through expensive clinical trials before Health Canada will approve them. Their uses will be severely restricted also..“Whereas now it is functionally illegal to treat serious health conditions with natural products, it will become functionally illegal to treat anything but the most minor of conditions with natural products,” predicts the NHPPA paper..“This is the end of the Natural Health Community. We strongly recommend stocking up on all natural health products that you rely upon for your life and health while you still can.”.To recover costs for the regulations just created, Health Canada would impose a fee schedule that would drive up costs–and, according to the NHPPA, push most stores out of business. On August 10, the federal government will conclude public feedback on the proposed fees which would come into effect April 1, 2025..Whereas health food stores formerly faced a maximum $5,000 fine for contravening regulations, the upcoming burden will be 1,000 times as steep..“Health Canada will get almost God-like powers. They can order you to take any ‘corrective action’. Failure to comply can result in $5,000,000 a day fines,” the NHPPA paper warns..Freedom of Information requests by health food manfacturer and retailer Deane Parkes, outlined in a 2019 NHPPA paper, showed that four leading Health Canada bureaucrats met with then-health minister Jane Philipott in 2016 to extend the drug regulations to health foods. After a 45-minute conversation, the minister agreed..In an interview with the Western Standard, NHPPA president Shawn Buckley said the changes would have come sooner if not for the pandemic..“When Health Canada's marching across the country in 2017 explaining to the natural health industry the self-care framework, they were saying this is non negotiable…So there was no consultation. It’s being imposed from above,” Buckley said..Canadians’ health will suffer from such changes, he added..“There isn’t a condition that these things don't treat,” Buckley said, naming bipolar disorder, arthritis, and alternatives to statins among them. .“It boggles the mind how effective many of these treatments are. It can be night and day, right? Like a switch going off.”.In addition to having the federal budget lines and associated fees and fines revoked, the NHPPA wants natural products and non-prescription chemical drugs put under a single set of regulations. They also want Ottawa to adopt its charter of health freedom, which has laready garnered over 111,500 signatories in support..The organization has set up an action page with a citizens’ petition kit, a store and clinic support kit, means to write MPs and Health Canada bureaucrats, and an emergency kit for “Health Canada raids.”.Buckley, a lawyer who formerly worked for Health Canada, said a successful campaign could take months to get adequate momentum..“It's going to take a citizen rebellion like we've never seen before. And the two largest citizen rebellions in my lifetime have been on this issue,” Buckley said, referring to attempts by Ottawa in the mid-90’s and 2008 to introduce similar legislation..“This is do or die. This is the end game to move us fully into a chemical model for treating anything reasonably important to us health wise.”
