Cosmetic Alliance President Darren Praznik and VP Beta Montemayor were in Ottawa last week for a series of meetings with senior Health Canada officials. This included an introductory meeting with the newly appointed Director-General of the Natural & Non-Prescription Drug Products Directorate (NNHPD) – Mr. Stephen Norman – who is Health Canada’s lead on the self-care modernization as well as the current proposals for cost recovery and new GMP’s for “natural health products” (NHP’s).
Following up on CA’s offer to provide him with a briefing on the Self-Care Framework from the viewpoint of our industry, Darren and Beta took the opportunity to present the new Director-General with a two-volume set of binders containing the vast amount of materials generated regarding self-care modernization since 2012. The materials specifically included many of the consultation and technical documents put out by Health Canada demonstrating that much of the technical work has already been done.
The impression made by the shear volume of the documentation on Self-Care from a decade of joint effort clearly caught the attention of Mr. Norman and his staff, and led to a wide ranging and positive discussion. CA also made the point that given the high turnover of staff at Health Canada, the value of this effort could be forgotten and so repeated if Health Canada did not get on with “finishing the job”!
Mr. Norman seemed to gain an appreciation that several of the files for which he is now responsible – such as cost recovery and GMP’s for NHP’s – are being challenged by stakeholders largely because they are based on the old and inefficient regulatory model and not the risk-based model on which Self-Care is based. Finalizing the self-care product risk categories and applying them to any “phase-in” approach would go a long way in ensuring that the Framework advances and that work does not have to repeated, and so earn the support of stakeholders.
Mr. Norman also invited Dennis Price and members of his team to join the meeting. Mr. Price is Director-General of Health Canada’s Consumer and Hazardous Products Safety Directorate (CHPSD) which is responsible for the regulation of cosmetics. His involvement was intended to ensure that all elements of the Self-Care modernization were engaged in the conversation. This was welcomed by CA and demonstrated the realization by Health Canada that better coordination is needed between the two branches engaged in the Self-Care modernization. CA has, and continues to ask the Deputy Minister, that the responsibility for all Self-Care products be consolidated into one directorate.
At the conclusion of meeting, Mr. Norman made clear his commitment to review the material provided and to work cooperatively with CA and other Self-Care stakeholders to advance the Framework. CA expects to be meeting again with Mr. Norman once he has had the opportunity to digest all of the information he is being provided.
