The federal government will monitor the bulk export of drugs from Canada and stop it when necessary, Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh says.

The move will ensure that Canadians don't find themselves short of prescription medicines, he said Wednesday at a news conference in Ottawa.

"Canada cannot be a drug store for the United States of America."

The United States is considering a law that would allow for the bulk importation of drugs from other countries.

Dosanjh didn't give a specific date for when the plan would start, but the minister said he wanted to consult the Internet pharmacy industry on how to monitor drug supply within Canada.

New legislation would be introduced in the fall sitting of Parliament, he said.

A ban would only kick in when there was an anticipated shortage of supply, he said.

Asked if there had been any reported shortages, Dosanjh said: "We have had anecdotal evidence of shortages across the country, but because we don't have a drug supply network ... we don't have any sustained information coming to us at Health Canada for us to be able to determine."

In a more controversial move, Dosanjh said the government would require an existing relationship between a foreign patient and a Canadian doctor.

Asked if that would kill the industry, he said: "It has never been my intention to kill the industry," but added later, "it may have an impact; I have no question in my mind."

As to what it will mean, "you will see once the regulations are drafted," he told the reporters.

Canadian "snowbirds" who winter in the United States will continue to be protected, he said.

Limiting bulk exports of drugs has been seen as the potentially easiest option for Dosanjh. A parliamentary committee recommended it, as did the country's Internet pharmacists, most of whom are based in Manitoba.

CTV's chief parliamentary correspondent Craig Oliver told Newsnet the new rules were needed because the government doesn't have a "hammer" to stop bulk exports of drugs.

"The concern is this is becoming a huge industry -- it's a billion-dollar industry now -- and we don't want to find ourselves in a crisis moment where there's not enough of it left for Canadian needs," he said.

"The real difficulty here is this whole business of the ethical side of it," Oliver said, such as sending drugs southward with no real knowledge of the patient or no relationship between the patient and a Canadian doctor.

"But if the minister himself couldn't explain how it's going to work, please don't ask me to explain (it)," he joked.