Health Canada is proposing to stop granting new temporary registrations of pesticides, which is a fantastic step to reducing the amount of harmful chemicals being used across the country. Great news, right? But there’s a catch. (Why does there always have to be a catch?) Turns out it also means that 76 pesticides and 31 combination products already on their list will continue to have temporary or conditional registrations. These pesticides include those with neonicotinoids (neonics).
The heavy use of these temporary or conditional registrations has been subverting pesticide regulation for many years, as they allow the products to be used without sending data to Health Canada or completing a public consultation process.
While we here at Green Action Centre are pleased to see that new registrations will not be able to be listed as “temporary” or “conditional”, the long-standing backlog is of grave concern. Some of these products have remained in use under the pending classification for over a decade, and 24 of the temporarily registered products contain neonics, which have serious impacts on bees and other pollinators.
You can have a say in this. Submit your comments to the Parliamentary Health Committee by March 19, 2016.
Learn more about the issues concerning the continued use of temporary approvals fromPrevent Cancer Now, including:
- Industry standards to increase the strength and number of chemicals in products
- Complex interactions of ingredients not being factored into assessments in Canada
- Delayed public consultation of products due to temporary registration classification
- The heavy backlog of temporary registrations (76 pesticides with 34 active ingredients, 31 pesticides with 2-5 active ingredients, designed to be extra-potent, and 45 single ingredient pesticides.)
Prevent Cancer Now has put together the form letter below for you to personalize and send to pmra.publications@hc-sc.gc.ca. Please send a copy of your letter to Prevent Cancer Now at info@preventcancernow.ca so that they can track input.
Re: NOI2016-01
Notice of Intent Regarding Conditional Registrations under the Pest Control Products Regulations
I support discontinuing granting of temporary, conditional registrations of pesticides, as currently proposed, and as recommended by the Parliamentary Committee (2015).
Temporary registrations put pesticides on the Canadian market, in our environment and in our food, with neither full assessment nor public consultation.
I also support nullifying current temporary registrations, as they include pesticides that are not permitted elsewhere, as well as mixtures that require thorough assessment because of interactions between multiple active ingredients.
The Parliamentary Committee also recommended improving openness and transparency, to ensure that Canadians are able to provide meaningful and informed input into the decision-making process and to clearly understand decisions made. For this, we need comprehensive, rigorous, systematic scientific reviews, and access to relevant data during consultations.
Sincerely,
Your full name
Organization, if applicable
Phone number
Complete mailing address, or email address
Recent Comments