The Pest Management Regulatory Agency, with the support of major Canadian farm organizations, wants to suspend the farmer-popular Own Use Import program after June while a new broader program is tried out.
The proposed Grower Requested Own Use program, suggested by a task force that represented farm groups, governments and farm chemical manufacturers would allow farmers to import cheaper chemicals from the United States deemed “materially identical” to products registered in Canada.
The GROU program would be superior to OUI because more products would be available and there would be a more effective container return policy, said Karen Dodds, executive director of the agency.
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Under OUI, farmers imported more than six million litres of less expensive ClearOut 41 Plus generic glyphosate from the U.S. in 2006, saving tens of millions of dollars in chemical costs.
Dodds told the House of Commons agriculture committee last week that eight chemicals have already been identified as potentially eligible for import under GROU.
“It’s clear at the outset that more farmers would potentially benefit than just the ClearOut 41 Plus,” she told sometimes-skeptical MPs. The new program “offers the potential for immediate, substantial widespread savings for growers.”
Gordon Bacon, chief executive officer of Pulse Canada and a member of the task force, said the GROU program would be accompanied by stronger intellectual property protection for chemical manufacturers and a push to harmonize crop protection product rules between Canada and the U.S.
He said implementation of the new system should start quickly.
“This will go a long way to sending the signal that we do have a regulatory environment in Canada that makes investing and bringing new products to Canada an attractive option to the companies who own these products,” he said.
“A key part of keeping our industry at the front of innovation is to make sure we have access to new products.”
Craig Hunter of the Canadian Horticultural Council said the council supports GROU and does not support OUI.
However, several MPs said their producers are reluctant to give up a program that has saved them money for one that has not been proven effective.
“GROU hasn’t worked for my producers yet,” said Saskatchewan Conservative David Anderson. “They have no evidence at all that it’s going to work.”
He suggested dropping the current own-use program would be akin to “abandoning my producers.”
Dodds said they don’t have evidence of its effectiveness yet because it has not been put in place fully and cannot co-exist with OUI.
Still, the boosters of the new program said they understood farmer skepticism.
They suggested that after June, OUI be suspended but not abolished. Then if the new program does not pan out, OUI can be reinstated.
Dodds also noted that before the end of June, farmers who want ClearOut 41 Plus for their 2007 crop can buy a year’s supply.
“It is now available and farmers can have access because it’s at least equivalent until the end of June,” she said.
“They can order now, buy now, bring in now what they need for this full growing season.”
She said one of the advantages of moving away from OUI is that farmers using the program have returned only 29 percent of the containers, while the average for registered products is a 70 percent return rate on containers and a 100 percent return rate for totes and drums.
“This presents a serious concern for federal and provincial governments as well as some stakeholders.”
