September 2001 Meeting Minutes

Tenth Meeting - September 20, 2001
Summary of Proceedings

CBAC Members

Dr. Arnold Naimark; Mary Alton Mackey; Gloria Bishop; Timothy Caulfield; Jonathan Bjorn Syms; Pierre Coulombe; Arthur Hanson; Bartha Maria Knoppers; Murray McLaughlin; Anne Mitchell; Rene Simard; Suzanne Hendricks; Denny Warner.

Absent

Peter Phillips (participated by conference call for P2 & P1); Lorne Babiuk, Robert Church and Douglas Powell

CBAC Staff

Roy Atkinson; Kathryn Howard; Linda Williams; Suzanne Fortin; Marnie McCall; Kelly Brannen; Phillip Fleming; Nicole Latour; Dawn Findlay.

Others: Richard Gold, consultant (participated by conference call for IP/PHL forms) Lynn Kelly (contracting)

General Matters

• The following personnel were introduced to the Committee: Kathryn Howard (Special Advisor), Nicole Latour (Committee Members Liaison) and Phillip Fleming, (Budget Planning).
• Suzanne Fortin and Kelly Brannen were given merit awards for their work on behalf of CBAC.
• The budget projections to March 31, 2002 were presented.
• The Committee approved in principle CBAC's participation in the Biotech 2000 Conference in June of 2002 and noted with interest that an "alternate" conference is being planned.

Special Project Reports

Intellectual Property and the Patenting of Higher Life Forms

The Committee discussed the most recent draft of the Interim Report on the Patenting of Higher Life Forms and made several suggestions designed to improve the organization and clarity of the draft report and to indicate clearly the range of views of CBAC members. The Executive was authorized to approve the draft report as revised in the light of the suggestions made and any further comments received from members of the Committee.

Considerable discussion took place concerning the impact of gene (in light of the current situation between Myriad Genetics and the Ontario government concerning tests for breast cancer susceptibility). In addition to this issue being raised in the Interim Report, it may be of sufficient interest and scope to warrant being designated as a special project on its own.

The Regulation of Genetically Modified (GM ) Foods

• The Committee received reports on how the Interim Report on Improving the Regulation of Genetically Modified and Other Novel Foods in Canada had been received in various quarters. Statistics on visits to the CBAC website were reviewed. It was noted that two bills on labelling had been introduced in Parliament recently, and that a draft labeling standard has been released by the CGSB.
  
  
• Preliminary plans to mount a pilot project based on the Acceptability Spectrum were described.

CBAC Project Planning

The Committee reviewed a list of potential new projects to be undertaken and current projects to be completed. In order to expand the list to include matters of particular interest to government departments the Committee invited departmental representatives to make brief presentations identifying such matters.

Presentations were received from:

• Alan Nymark, Deputy Minister, Environment Canada who observed that it is hoped that Canada will ratify the Biosafety Protocol before the end of 2002 and that Canada will need to co-ordinate its actions in regard to the Protocol. The Deputy Minister also described the overarching responsibilities for ensuring the quality of biotechnology assessments contained in CEPA 1999 and how these would relate to work contemplated by other departments on the subjects of genetically modified fish and livestock. He also emphasized the continuing importance of engaging the Canadian public in discussions of public policy in biotechnology.
  
  
• Diane Vincent, Associate Deputy Minister, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada who noted that Canadian agriculture is facing many challenges. Consumers today are more informed, affluent and their expectations are rising. They are also more vocal and more organized than in the past. There is an increased demand for product identification. Agriculture Canada is currently developing standards to address their concerns. These issues, particularly GM food, also have the potential to become trade barriers in the future. The new policy direction for Agriculture Canada is consumer oriented. There are plans to develop a tracking and tracing system that would trace food products back to the farms that they came from. In five years, the new plan should be in place and it would also involve a comprehensive plan for environmental action for all Canadian farms. Environmental assessments of many farms have already taken place. Agriculture Canada currently has an action plan that includes a lot of consultation with farmers and other stakeholders. Consumers and export markets are uncomfortable with GM food. Agriculture Canada and CBAC need to work together as they are both dealing with the same kinds of issues.
  
  
• Dr. Peter Harrison, Deputy Minister, Natural Resources who focused on his departments interest and responsibilities related to forestry, energy and mining. Pest control is vitally important in forestry and therefore improved biocontrol that is environmentally sensitive is important to that industry. It was also mentioned that research on GM trees is taking place in restricted areas and the trials are regulated by The Seeds Act. Energy and mining is related to biotechnology due to the use of processes such as biomass conversion, bioupgrading of petroleum, bioleaching, bioremediation and biodegradation of organic pollutants. Dr. Harrison observed that the key issue for consultation is the release of GMOs into natural and managed ecosystems.
  
  
• Emmy Verdun, Director, Industry Canada who observed that Canada plans to become a leader in innovation and will dramatically increase its spending on research in the future. Biotechnology is seen as a means for Canada to achieve benefits from innovation, as it is the fastest growing sector. Some of the challenges to the Canadian biotechnology sector include the fact that most of the firms are SMEs, i.e., there are only a few large firms, product development period is long, alliances play a key role in product development, patents are a key asset, cost of R&D; is high and there is a strong public sector R&D; and regulatory role. It was suggested that possible innovation-related issues for CBAC to consider are commercialization, an innovation-friendly regulatory environment, IP and patenting and genetic privacy.
  
  
• Claudio Valle, Foreign Affairs who emphasized the interaction between domestic regulatory policies and Canada’s obligations under international trade agreements.
  
  
• Diane Gorman, Assistant Deputy Minister, Health Canada who noted that Health Canada’s science advisory board is taking an interest in CBAC’s work. Health Canada is directly responsible for products under several acts, including the Food and Drugs Act, and the Pest Control Products Act and is also responsible for risk assessments of new products under CEPA and detection or diagnostic kits for infectious diseases. Furthermore, Health Canada is involved in the issue of gene therapy, consultations on xenotransplantation, human genetic testing, genetic privacy, and issues related to stem cell research and cloning. Health Canada is looking forward to CB AC’s completion of its final reports on GM food and IP and its advice on what the public expects, mechanisms for engaging the public, incorporating ethical, legal and social issues in decision-making and mechanisms for identifying potential future issues. It would also be useful if CBAC in addition to engaging the public, encourages direct discussions with appropriate government officials on relevant topics.
  
  
• Elizabeth Sanderson, Senior General Counsel and Glenn Rivard, General Counsel, Justice Canada who observed that their department, recognizing that biotechnology is raising legal issues, has established the Department of Justice Biotechnology Working Group, which facilitates the sharing of knowledge between lawyers on these issues. The issues of privacy and discrimination raised by advances in biotechnology beg the question as to whether the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Privacy Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms cover these issues adequately whether there needs to be a higher level of protection for genetic information.

Schedule of Next Meeting

The next CBAC meeting was scheduled for November 22, 2001

Signed: November 22, 2001