Proposed law would ban trans-fats in Canada

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 000587

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT EB/DCT, WHA/CAN

DEPARTMENT PASS USTR (CHANDLER)

USDA/FAS/OSEC (Renn)
USDA/FAS/OA (Terpstra)
USDA/FAS/ITP/OFSTS (Sheikh and S. Reid)
USDA/FAS/CMP (F. Lee)

USDOC for 4320/ITA/MAC/WH/ONAFTA/WORD

HHS FOR FDA/International Affairs (KWAIN)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EAGR TBIO CA ETRD EAGR TBIO CA NDP
SUBJECT: Proposed law would ban trans-fats in Canada

Ref (A) 2004 Ottawa 03431
(B) 2005 Ottawa 00418

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Summary
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1. A law proposed by Canada's social democratic party, the
NDP, would amend Canada's Food and Drug Act to prohibit
content of more than 2 grams of trans-fatty acids per 100
grams of oil or fat in foodstuffs. This proposed law, would
take Canada down the same path as Denmark, which in March
2003, issued new regulations limiting the amount of trans
fat in processed foods. Currently manufacturers are able to
treat Canada and the United States as essentially a single
extended market. Canadian imposition of a ban on Trans-fatty
acids in foods would have a detrimental effect on American
industry; these proposed new rules would introduce a
regulatory mismatch and impose costly measures on
manufacturers to meet different formulation requirements for
foods in Canada and in the United States. The bill is
moving slowly so far, but underscores the need to watch food
regulatory developments closely, and reinforces Post's
suggestion that we press for regulatory synchronization
between the two countries (ref A). Post intends to ensure
this piece of legislation is noted and discussed at the next
meeting of the Consultative Committee on Agriculture. End
summary.


2. The bill, C-220 "An Act to Amend the Food and Drugs Act
(trans fatty acids)" was introduced in the House of Commons
on October 18, 2004 as a "Public Members Private Bill".
That is, a New Democratic Party (NDP) member of the House of
Commons introduced the bill and it does not have Liberal
government support. That being said, in the current
minority parliament the NDP does have considerable sway over
the Liberal government of Paul Martin. The NDP leader, Jack
Layton, is urging Canada to follow the lead of Denmark. Said
Layton, "People expect us to have legislation to protect
their health and if we'd been informed that trans fats are
dangerous to your health, we'd be irresponsible if we didn't
take some action."

3. The Conservative Party, which is the official opposition
and has the second greatest number of seats in the House of
Commons after the governing Liberal party supports the Trans
fatty acid ban. Steven Fletcher, the Conservative Health
critic, is a passionate and high profile advocate for this
bill, which would result in the effective elimination of
processed trans fats from food products in Canada.

4. In November 2004, in response to the calls for a
prohibition from the NDP and Conservative parties, Health
Minister Ujjal Dosanjh announced that Health Canada, in
conjunction with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada,
would "work through a multi-stakeholder task force to
develop recommendations and strategies for reducing trans
fats in Canadian foods to the lowest levels possible." The
task force, being developed with the support and
participation of the food processing and food service
industries, will include representatives from health
associations, government, academia, and industry.

5. Recommendations regarding public education, labelling,
and any possible immediate opportunities for the food
service and food processing industry to reduce trans fats
are expected by late Spring 2005. By autumn 2005 the task
force is expected to provide the Minister with
recommendations for both an appropriate regulatory framework
and for the introduction and widespread use of alternatives
to achieve the objective of limiting trans fat content in
foods sold in Canada to the lowest levels possible.
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Comment
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6. The formation of this "trans fat task force" has taken
some of the wind out of the sails of Bill C-220 (which has
yet to receive its second reading and debate in the House of
Commons). Moreover, the consultative approach is supported
by recommendations from the External Advisory Committee on
Smart Regulations, which call for the formation of such
groups to help lead regulatory reform. Indeed officials of
the GoC Smart Regulation secretariat (ref B) commented to us
that Bill C-220 is a prime example of exactly the wrong
approach to take on regulation. Nevertheless, this piece of
proposed legislation underscores the need for vigilance on
the food regulatory front; and reinforces our recent
suggestion to push for greater regulatory synchronization
between Canada and the United States (ref A). Post intends
to ensure this piece of legislation is noted and discussed
at the next meeting of the Consultative Committee on
Agriculture.

Cellucci