Beef cattle graze in a P.E.I. field. (CBC)

An industry-dominated task force that wants more research on imports of untested antibiotics for use in animals has drawn a rebuttal in an article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The committee's report was "quietly" posted on the Health Canada website on Dec. 30, the journal article released online Wednesday said.

Rather than immediately end a provision allowing farmers to import a 90-day supply of unapproved drugs for use in meat animals — as recommended in a Health Canada report seven years ago — the Task Force on Own-Use Importation of Veterinary Drugs wants rules governing restricted imports to be put in place over three years.

The current rule, which allows imports of untested animal drugs for the importer's use with his or her own animals, has raised concerns about the safety of the drugs, the report acknowledges. The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) article calls it a "loophole."

The article cited outside and committee experts who are worried that the drugs will affect resistance to similar medicines used in humans.

The report shows “no concern for the issue of human resistance to antibiotics,” said Dr. Donald Low, chief microbiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and co-author of the 2002 report recommending Health Canada stop the imports. “It’s not mentioned in the document. It's not an agenda item.”

The consumer representative on the task force, Jenny Hillard, research director for Consumers Alliance Inc., wants the import provision ended.

“What we have is a recommendation that the loophole perhaps be formalized with a bit more paperwork involved,” she said, describing the recommendation as a plan that will likely allow farmers to continue freely importing many unregulated drugs.

Task force member Jean Szkotnicki, president of the Canadian Animal Health Institute, said the government should immediately require the registration of all drugs imported for use in food production.

“Canadians would be surprised and up in arms to learn that a significant amount of drugs used in food animal production today are not licensed by Health Canada,” she said.

No evidence of problem: veterinarian

The actual amount is not known because the task force was not given data about the amounts and kinds of drugs imported under the 90-day provision.

Saskatchewan veterinarian Louis Desautels, who represented the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association on the task force, is quoted in the CMAJ article as saying there is no grounds for regulation until the same drugs are available in Canada at competitive prices.

There is no evidence of a problem, and restricting imports would drive up drug prices, he said.

However, government health investigators and other bodies have previously warned that there's a link between the use of antibiotics in animals and human resistance to these antibiotics.

Low and Hillard wondered why there was no public health expert on the task force, but Health Canada official Lateef Adewoye told the CMAJ that “the issue is not about whether we have representatives from all the major stakeholders.”

Moreover, public health representatives could have responded during the nine weeks that the report was open for comments.

However, the online comment link in the report was broken for five of those weeks, the CMAJ said, and "only became operational after CMAJ made inquiries."

The consultation period, which ended March 5, was not extended.