Agricore United’s new policy on the Own Use Import program is not at odds with the stance the company has taken through CropLife Canada, says an AU spokesperson.
Ninety-six percent of the 136 delegates attending the grain company’s annual meeting in February voted in favour of a resolution calling on Agricore to lobby the federal government to continue a program that has decreased production costs for Canadian farmers.
One observer claimed that represents a significant policy change for an organization that has raised a “litany of objections” about the controversial Pest Management Regulatory Agency program.
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Agricore United is one of the largest members of CropLife Canada, a chemical industry lobby group that is out to destroy the OUI program, said Farmers of North America vice-president Glen Caleval.
Objections filed by CropLife and other interested parties prompted the PMRA to launch a review of its popular program through which farmers imported 5.7 million litres of generic glyphosate from the United States in 2005.
A report is due in March that will provide recommendations on how to change the OUI program that claimed an estimated 18 percent of Canada’s annual glyphosate sales.
Cam Dahl, government relations and policy development officer for Agricore United, said there is no policy paradox because CropLife is not out to obliterate the OUI program. It wants answers to a series of questions it has posed to the PMRA.
“Farmers of North America have spun that to say that people raising these questions are trying to shut down the Own Use Import program. That is not the case. We’re not.”
Agricore United and other input providers are raising concerns about issues like stewardship, liability, investment chill and trade implications of farmers importing and using a chemical that is not registered in Canada.
“We are concerned that the use of an unregistered pesticide will be used by our competitors as a non-tariff trade barrier,” said Dahl.
The company is also seeking clarification on third party involvement, wondering why a firm like Farmers of North America can broker the import of glyphosate on behalf of its members while Agricore United is not allowed to participate in the program.
There is a big distinction between asking questions and calling for the end to the program, said Dahl.
The company intends to follow the will of its delegates and lobby the federal government to maintain the OUI program, but that support will be subject to the PMRA resolving some of the concerns raised by CropLife Canada, he said.
