Proposed Growers Requested Own Use regulations clamp down on uncooperative companies

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

by SUSAN MANN

Health Canada’s proposal to include the Grower Requested Own Use program in its Pest Control Products Regulations will add teeth to the program by ensuring the product manufacturers play by the rules, says a crop protection specialist.

Craig Hunter, crop protection and research specialist with the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association, says up until now the program has been operating on a gentlemen’s agreement. The program allows Canadian growers to import the American version of a Canadian registered product if it’s available to their competitors south of the border at a lower price. Including the program in the regulations will enable the government to impose sanctions on companies refusing to cooperate.

“We’ve had a few companies that just stonewalled the process and wouldn’t provide their data and wouldn’t agree to share,” he explains. The proposal is giving “us exactly what we’ve been asking for all along. It’s actually pretty good from our perspective,” he says.

Administered by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), the Grower Requested Own Use program has been in place for the past three years. The products in the program must be purchased and imported by the grower for use on their land and for that growing season. Canadian scientists evaluate products before they’re accepted in the program to identify any chemical differences that may lead to increased health or environmental risks.

Hunter says the association is working with the Canadian Horticultural Council and will submit farm group comments from a national perspective. But he says he’s gone through the proposal and personally thinks there is very little change that’s necessary.

Comments on the proposed amendments are due by Sept. 21 and can be submitted to PMRA regulatory affairs. BF