A proposed fee increase to register pesticides in Canada won’t have a significant impact on pesticide prices, says a representative of CropLife Canada.
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency collects fees from crop protection companies when they want to register a new pesticide or register an existing product for a different use.
The PMRA introduced the fees in 1997, but the agency hasn’t revised the fee structure for the last 18 years.
Pierre Petelle, vice-president of chemistry for CropLife Canada, said the PMRA wants the industry to cover 30 percent of what it costs to review registration applications.
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Petelle said the industry was responsible for approximately 25 percent of the cost when the fee was introduced, but the percentage shrunk as the PMRA budget expanded.
He said it’s reasonable to increase the fees so that crop protection companies pay $12.5 to $13 a year instead of the current $8 million a year.
“These types of fees aren’t the big cost in registering a product. The generation of data, those studies are in the millions of dollars. This (the PMRA fee) is a fairly small portion of what it costs to bring a product to growers,” Petelle said.
“The PMRA has done some cost estimates. They anticipate less than .1 percent would be the potential increase in pesticide prices.”
Richard Aucoin, PRMA executive director, and Jason Flint, PMRA acting director general for policy and regulatory affairs, explained the proposed fee increase April 22 during a Senate agriculture committee hearing.
The PMRA is also proposing that industry fees increase by two percent a year to account for inflation.
Petelle said the modifications bring Canada in line with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where industry covers about 30 percent of the cost to register pesticides.
“We think what they (PMRA) have come up with is fair and justifiable,” he said.
“If it costs them $1,000 to review something, they would like to see $300 of that come from industry.”
In some countries, companies applying for a pesticide registration must cover the entire cost of reviewing the product.
Petelle said that structure is risky in terms of public perception.
“People want to make sure the system is impartial,” he said.
“Anything more than the 30 to 40 percent range, then you get groups saying that industry has too much influence.”
If Parliament approves the fee changes, they could take effect by the spring of 2016.
Contact robert.arnason@producer.com
