The political heat is turning up on the Pest Management Regulatory Agency over how minor-use pesticides are made available to farmers.
When MPs return to Parliament Hill in late January after their six week Christmas break, the House of Commons agriculture committee will begin hearings into the PMRA.
Health minister Allan Rock, who is responsible for the agency, is expected to be called to account for its record.
“The long and the short of it is, we haven’t had real positive comments from farmers about the PMRA,” said Ontario Liberal Rosemarie Ur, who moved the Dec. 11 motion that the hearings be held. “In fact, we’ve had lots of complaints about approvals. Our message will be ‘get your act together.’ “
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Last week, the rural Liberal caucus called PMRA executive director Claire Franklin before it in a private session. There have been a flood of farmer complaints this autumn.
- Saskatoon-based Farmers of North America filed a protest over PMRA’s failure to allow a cheaper glyphosate product into the country to compete with Monsanto’s Roundup. The group said Canadian farmers pay $100 million a year for higher-priced products.
Evidence sent to Rock includes letters indicating PMRA rejection of an application for an own-use import permit, as well as accusations of anti-trust violations.
- Leaders of the Canadian Horticultural Council complained that Canadian fruit and vegetable growers often are not allowed to use the chemicals that their American competitors can.
“We need the registration process for crop protection tools to be harmonized so that newer, safer products are submitted, evaluated and registered in both countries at the same time,” said British Columbia fruit grower Penny Gambell, CHC president.
- Ontario farm groups AgCare and the Ontario Fruit and Vegetables Growers’ Association presented evidence of a number of minor-use products that are not available to Canadian growers but are available south of the border and often are used on fruits and vegetables imported into Canada.
In its own defence, the agency said efforts are being made to clear the backlog of registration requests and to work with American regulators on joint registrations.
But MPs hear from farmers that there still are too many irritants and unavailable products.
“There is a real disconnect between what PMRA says is being done and progress it says is being made, and what farmers say they see happening on the ground,” said Ontario Liberal Bob Speller, chair of the Liberal caucus agriculture task force.
The horticulture industry said that in 2000, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency gave minor-crop producers access to 901 new products, either through new registrations or approved new uses for existing products.
“In Canada during the period of March 2000 to February 2001, the number of registrations was 24,” said the horticulture group’s brief.
And the farmer lobby complained that the lack of comparable chemical products in Canada undermines the government’s goal of agricultural expansion into non-food products and specialty niche crops.
