Health committee  I did not actually, but certainly the regulation of marketing activity is broader than just advertising. I think if you look at, for example, the natural health product regulations and the Food and Drugs Act, they do capture a broader range of potential activities than advertising.

Health committee  Absolutely.

Health committee  To your first question, the status quo right now is essentially an unregulated marketplace, so certainly the answer is yes. That's easily done. Your second question I think is a critical one. If e-cigarettes are regulated as a health product, we have standards and we have definitions of “drug” or “device”, etc., that are very similar in terms of intent, which establish that there has to be a demonstrable benefit that outweighs the risk, and there needs to be data to support that proposition.

Health committee  Yes, there are potential conflicts there. I understand the question. Certainly I don't have a concern over it. I think a health product company is a health product company. So natural health product medicine and we have the same objectives, the health of Canadians. Certainly I think there's the potential there for a conflict, or a different set of motivations, for a tobacco company owned e-cigarette company because they're in the business of selling an addiction to nicotine.

Health committee  Yes. At the most fundamental level, what we have right now because of the non-enforcement of the existing ban is essentially an unregulated market. On top of all the concerns we're discussing now on a policy level, there is the simple math about who is watching what goes into these products and who is ensuring that they contain what they say they contain.

Health committee  Yes. I think advertising on a variety of levels is problematic. In the absence of an agreed-upon regulatory structure, the question arises about what claims can be made for these products—what you are advertising, what claims are being made, and what assurances are being given to potential users.

Health committee  Thank you. Mr. Chair, members of the committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide input into your study of e-cigarettes. My name is Gerry Harrington and I am the director of policy for Consumer Health Products Canada. Consumer Health Products Canada is the trade association representing the companies that make evidence-based, over-the-counter medicines and natural health products.

Health committee  I think probably the best example of the most aggressive policy being pursued is in the United Kingdom. In 2000 the then Blair government issued a new ten-year plan for the National Health Service, which is roughly equivalent to what we loosely call medicare. In that blueprint, that ten-year plan, there were four pillars upon which they based the entire exercise.

Health committee  Thank you, David. Consumer health products have an important role to play in thoughtful health promotion and disease prevention strategies. OTC medicines and natural health products are vital elements in the toolbox Canadians have access to when they practise self-care and engage in the management of their own health.

Health committee  A quick comment. I think you'll find that most industrial sectors are divided: there are companies that follow the law as a matter of course, and there are those that do not. The members of our association strongly believe that the more inspectors, the more enforcement staff that Health Canada has for enforcement of its regulations, the better.

Health committee  From the operative position of an industry regulated under the Food and Drugs Act and that is intended to be exempt from this bill, allow me to just provide an example from our world. Under the Food and Drugs Act, all products are assumed to have risks attached to them. If there is any therapeutic benefit, there is a risk attached.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  Thank you for your question, Mr. Dufour. Allow me to answer in English. The question of the release of confidential business information is a key one for an industry that is proprietary information-based, such as the consumer health products industry. We are in a bit of an awkward spot before this committee, however, because we don't anticipate that the provisions contained in this bill will apply to our industry.