The Pest Management Regulatory Agency says the controversial Own Use Import program has been a huge drain on its resources.
In 2006, the agency approved 3,309 permits to import 6.38 million litres of ClearOut 41 Plus glyphosate from the United States. That is up slightly from the 3,146 permits and 5.73 million litres of chemical approved in 2005.
Producers received their answers back within 30 days of submitting the application 97 percent of the time, despite having no new staff to work on the OUI file, said Karen McCullagh, the PMRA’s director of compliance and regional operations.
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Instead of hiring new staff, the agency paid more than 120 days of overtime in 2006. She said piling additional work on the backs of existing staff is taking away from other important work.
“That’s a challenge for us within the agency,” said
McCullagh. “Some of the lower priority compliance work has had to be set aside.”
At the behest of the OUI task force, the agency is working on a replacement program McCullagh hopes will cut the workload for farmers asking to bring in chemicals from the U.S. and regulators monitoring the process.
Producers will no longer have to prove the product they want is chemically equivalent to one already registered in Canada. Farmers of North America, the group that proved ClearOut 41 was equivalent to existing glyphosates sold in Canada, said that process took five years and $500,000.
Under the proposed Grower Requested Own Use, or GROU program, that process will be simplified. Producers will submit a request and the PMRA will determine whether the product is “materially identical” to one already registered in Canada.
Farmers of North America contends that subtle shift from “equivalent” to “identical” will severely restrict what products can be brought across the border. But the PMRA said the new program will be used more extensively than the old one because it is cheaper and faster.
Senior officials at the agency hope the new program will also reduce the paperwork that has to be processed by staff, but that remains unclear.
“If we could avoid having to give out permits we would, but I’m not sure our regulatory framework will allow us to run a program without permits,” said Trish MacQuarrie, director of policy and regulatory affairs with the PMRA.
She said the agency will evaluate the results of a GROU pilot program in December and will know early in the new year whether it will be a suitable replacement for the OUI program in 2007.
