The federal government is reviewing its decision to ban a controversial insecticide once used extensively by Canadian canola growers to defend their crops against flea beetles.
At the behest of Crompton Corp., manufacturer of Vitavax RS and Cloak seed treatments, an independent review board will hold a hearing of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency’s 2002 decision to suspend registration of lindane-based products.
The board is soon expected to issue a non-binding decision on whether the PMRA was correct in its assessment that the canola seed treatment posed unacceptable health risks to workers handling the product both on the farm and in seed treatment facilities.
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That decision will help guide the agency in altering or confirming its original stance.
Some groups are already casting doubt on the pending ruling. Shortly after the board began its hearing on Jan. 10, 2005, the Sierra Club of Canada withdrew from the process, claiming the review was flawed.
The environmental group said the selection process for the three-member review panel is a mystery, the procedural rules for the hearing are ad hoc and the whole review is clouded by the fact that Crompton is threatening Canada with a North American Free Trade Agreement challenge over the lindane issue.
The Sierra Club claims to have proof that Crompton Co. has sent a letter to the United States Environmental Protection Agency stating the review board process will result in a reinstatement of lindane registrations in Canada. The group said that letter suggests the outcome of the review is a foregone conclusion.
“A cynic might suspect the PMRA was stacking the deck in favour of Crompton in order to avoid a potential NAFTA suit. Someone less cynical, however, might come to the conclusion the agency is merely incompetent,” said Angela Rickman, a senior policy adviser with the Sierra Club.
The PMRA was contacted for this story but did not respond to calls seeking comment.
A spokesperson for Crompton said while the company did file a notice of intent to submit a NAFTA claim to arbitration in 2001, it has never followed up on that.
Debra Durbin said the company has “no idea” what the review board decision will be, but it knows what it should be.
“We believe that, based on extensive scientific data, the use of lindane seed treatment products for canola and other crops is environmentally safe and not a public health concern, and is of great and long-term recognized benefit to Canadian growers,” she said.
A special review of lindane was launched by the PMRA in 1999. It resulted in a decision to phase out what is internationally recognized as a toxic substance through voluntary discontinuation of sales or outright suspension of registrations.
The Canola Council of Canada encouraged the voluntary withdrawal of lindane products because it feared residues of the insecticide could jeopardize exports to the U.S., where there was no established tolerance level for the pesticide.
All manufacturers of lindane-based products, except Crompton Corp., voluntarily complied with the PMRA ruling. In February 2002, the regulatory agency was forced to suspend registration of the company’s Vitavax RS and Cloak seed treatments. Three years later that suspension is under review.
One U.S. environmental group thinks it knows why the issue has resurfaced.
“Crompton Corp. is aggressively pressing for re-registration of lindane for canola uses in the U.S. and Canada’s phase out of this use gets in the way,” said Kristin Schafer of the Pesticide Action Network North America.
Durbin said registration of lindane is pending in the U.S. based on a May 2002 application. It won’t be a re-registration because there was no application before that.
