Grainswest - Fall 2025

Fall 2025 grainswest.com 9 ANAC’s Melissa Dumont believes proposed changes to federal feed regulations would be a win for farmers. These include speeding up product approvals. BY TREVOR BACQUE • PHOTO COURTESY OF ANIMAL NUTRITION ASSOCIATION OF CANADA THE FEED INDUSTRY CONTINUES to be optimistic after recently announced changes to Canada’s policies and regulations. Initially brought to the public in March by then-agriculture minister Kody Blois, he expressed a desire to bring change to Canada’s feed industry by cutting regulatory red tape. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said it is now working to: “Remove unnecessary red tape and burden and ensure that our pro- cesses and regulations continue to enable prosperity for our agriculture producers, agri-food businesses and communities across Canada.” The four key changes are to speed up product approvals to provide alternatives to U.S.-sourced animal feed, harmonize Canada’s (BSE) enhanced feed ban, address stakeholder irritants to level the playing field for Canadian farmers and remove outdated prescriptive require- ments and support innovation. Melissa Dumont is the executive director of the Animal Nutrition Associ- ation of Canada (ANAC) in Ottawa, ON. She said such changes would be seen as a big win by farmers, especially as they compete with other countries where such products are allowed. Canadian farmers would like to use certain products related to the gut health of livestock animals, but many are not registered for use in Canada. Such options, namely feed additives, can lessen the need for antimicrobial usage, which in recent years has been common- ly flagged as a growing concern in the livestock sector. Dumont suggested such a change by the CFIA could spur innovation and investment in Canada, which is typical- ly seen as a small marketplace with an overly onerous system. On July 22, ANAC sent a letter to ag minister Heath MacDonald, but has yet to hear back. The letter outlines the organization’s support for changes and outlines the positives that could come from changes to existing CFIA policies. Canada could look to adopt a model such as Australia’s, said Dumont. The coun- try uses the reviews of trusted foreign governments as a forerunner to its own domestic approval for the use of certain products. One big, longstanding issue that has hampered innovation and foreign investment in the Canadian mar- ket is the country’s review and approval system. When a new feed product is approved for use in Canada, it is subject- ed to rigorous testing. Registered feed products in the Canadian marketplace are also reviewed every three years. The renewal process really bogs down the en- tire system, said Dumont. Comparatively, in Europe, select products are reviewed every 10 years and in the U.S., products are never reviewed once scientifically tested and accepted for use. The fact that the same teams approve new products and review existing ones has created a backlog that results in extremely long wait times for companies that wish to do business in Canada. This is well-known and commonly causes investment dollars to head elsewhere. “Sometimes Canada asks for very different information than the other countries, and it doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Because Canada is such a small marketplace, international companies are not jumping and anxiously wanting to come to Canada because the system is so burdensome and so small. So, they’re going to focus on markets that are large or that have flexible regulations that make it easier to get these products in the country all while upholding safety.” She is hopeful that with changes coming from the federal government, industry and farmers will have reason to celebrate and be able to use new products that support animal health and produc- tion sooner rather than later. “We’re staying optimistic.” The federal government did not re- spond to an interview request. Regulatorychangeslikelyontheway Adjustment to feed product approval may take place