The federal government is winning industry praise for its promise to
spend money and change rules in an effort to make more minor-use
chemicals available to Canadian farmers.
Agriculture minister Lyle Vanclief announced May 23 that Ottawa will
allocate more than $9 million through the health and agriculture
departments to fund research and generate data needed for minor use
product registration.
The government also said it will make better and faster use of data
generated in the United States in applications for minor-use and
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reduced-risk pesticide registration.
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is promising faster reviews for
minor-use and reduced-risk product applications, and a full-time
minor-use adviser will work in the PMRA to make sure the system works
as promised.
“It’s a really good first step,” said Grimsby, Ont., grape grower Mary
Lou Garr. She heads the farmer environmental group Agcare.
“What we’ve been asking for is that the whole minor-use mess be
straightened out and I think we can see a beginning.”
Her praise was echoed by leaders of the Canadian Horticultural Council,
Canadian Federation of Agriculture, Ontario corn growers and pesticide
manufacturers.
“The initiatives and allocation of resources will address many of our
concerns and recommendations,” said CHC president Ken Forth, whose
fruit and vegetable grower members are the main market for minor-use
chemicals.
“There is a lot of work to do and we’re anxious to get started.”
For his part, Vanclief said the announcement was just the beginning. He
wants to find more money to make sure data is available and
registration work is done so Canadian farmers can have the same pest
control products as their American competitors.
“We’re going from $1.3 million to $6.9 million (in Agriculture Canada
funds),” he said.
He said PMRA regulators will try to speed up registration reviews by
making more use of American data.
Vanclief said the new PMRA minor-use adviser will work with the farm
sector to determine what products are priorities and then make sure
testing is done, data generated and decisions made.
