National farm organizations that sold their members a bill of goods on the Own Use Import program have one last chance at redemption, says a Farmers of North America official.
The company has sent letters to Canada’s leading farm organizations asking for a statement of support in efforts to save the popular Pest Management Regulatory Agency program, through which farmers have imported tens of millions of tonnes of discount ClearOut 41 Plus glyphosate from the United States.
If FNA fails to receive strong enough support to continue its battle against federal regulators, the company will drop its efforts to resuscitate the OUI program.
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“We literally can’t afford to keep pouring the money and the time into this issue if we’re carrying this flag alone,” said FNA vice-president Glenn Caleval.
He was highly critical of “so-called farmer representatives” who he said collaborated with CropLife Canada and the federal government in abolishing the OUI program in favour of a package of ineffective reforms.
“How much money has your new program saved farmers? Not a cent. Instead, farmers have paid much more than they should for necessary chemicals,” said Caleval.
Other than citing Pulse Canada as a culprit, Caleval wouldn’t name names. The OUI task force that agreed to the replacement program included representatives from Pulse Canada, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, the Canadian Horticulture Council and Grain Growers of Canada.
Pulse Canada chief executive officer Gord Bacon said it was the PMRA, not the farm groups, that called for the mothballing of the OUI program. His association wanted to have a say in what the alternative would be.
“We used that window of opportunity of the PMRA opening up the discussion to get concessions on a wider range of things,” he said.
His farmer board members indicated they were concerned with pesticide price differences between Canada and the United States, but they also wanted better access to new chemistries and an overall reduction in the cost of bringing products to market.
Bacon said the package of reforms addresses all of those concerns.
The reforms provide a vehicle for farmers to bring in cheaper U.S. versions of products registered in Canada, a quick generic registration program and a way to standardize registrations of new chemicals in both countries.
Five products have been approved for import under the Grower Requested Own Use (GROU) program and another seven are under consideration, including ClearOut. Implementation of the OUI replacement program was delayed until after the first frost, which negated its impact in 2007.
Bacon estimated that pulse farmers would have saved $7 million in chemical costs had the GROU program been in place in the spring of 2007. More savings will follow once other GROU products are approved and farmers gain access to some of the 20-plus products being considered for a North American Free Trade Agreement label.
Richard Phillips, executive director of Grain Growers of Canada, said the PMRA had valid concerns about the OUI program, which was not intended to import huge volumes of farm chemicals into the country.
“It grew beyond what PMRA or anyone else ever envisioned,” he said.
But the farm groups on the OUI task force said if the replacement proves ineffectual, OUI will be resurrected.
“If it doesn’t work you’ll see us leading the charge to go back to the other model along with the FNA,” said Phillips.
He said the GROU program was “late out of the gate” and deserves one full growing season to see if it is having the desired impact.
Caleval would like the OUI to continue. He said if the replacement programs are all they are cracked up to be, the OUI will die a natural death.
But the PMRA no longer accepts applications for equivalency, which were necessary to import chemicals under the OUI program. The FNA has made submissions for four other products but all have been returned.
Caleval estimated farmers would have saved tens of millions of dollars if those certifications had been issued and hundreds of millions if they were followed by approvals for products like Horizon and Bravo.
“It just drives me crazy,” he said.
By the first week of January, FNA hopes to make an announcement on whether it has received enough support to continue with its campaign to revive the OUI.
It has received endorsements from the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan, Keystone Agricultural Producers, Wild Rose Agricultural Producers, the National Farmers Union and Manitoba Seed Growers.
Caleval said he doubts if the backing from those groups will convince the federal cabinet to keep the program alive.
The government appears to place more faith in what it hears from farm groups on the OUI task force, he said.
