Pest Management Regulatory Agency

The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is the Canadian government agency responsible for the regulation of pest control products in Canada under the federal authority of the Pest Control Products Act^[1] and Regulations,^[2]. The agency reports to Parliament through Health Canada. PMRA’s mission is “To protect the health and environment of Canadians by using modern evidence-based scientific approaches to pesticide regulation, in an open and transparent manner”. ^[3][4] Their main activity areas include: new product evaluation, post market review and compliance and enforcement. ^[5]

Health Canada works with provincial, territorial and federal departments in Canada to help refine and strengthen pesticide regulation across the country.^[5] Outside of Canada, the Agency works closely with international organizations such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the North American Free Trade Agreement Technical Working Group, the European Union, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.^[4]

History

The agency was called into being on 1 April 1995.^[6]

The Pest Control Products Act came into force on June 28, 2006.^[7] On 31 January 2008, the Review Panel Regulations were instituted, to administer sections 35 to 40 of the then-renewed Act.^[8]A statutory review of the Pest Control Products Act was held by the Health Committee of Parliament on 27 January 2015. Three witnesses from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency were called to speak on the legislation.^[9] Aucoin, the Executive Director of the PMRA, stressed the science based and OECD-collaborative nature of the review process.^[9]

Controversies

Robert Arnason, a journalist at the time working The Western Producer, wrote in September 2015 an open letter to the PMRA that remarked the lack of transparency with respect to pesticide sales figures, which had ostensibly been legislated in 2006.^[10]

In April 2015, the PMRA announced that glyphosate was due for a periodic review, and asked for public submissions. Both the active ingredient glyphosate and its formulated products were considered during the re-evaluation. Some glyphosate products also contain POEAs, which function as surfactants. The product labels (which are under the control of the PMRA) were revised to ensure that a limit of 20% POEA by weight is directed. As of April 2017, all registered glyphosate end-use products in Canada meet the 20% limit.^[11] The labels were also to be changed from 2019 to reflect the concerns of householders and parents have priority, and that aquatic areas are excluded from spray zones.^[12] The statement "when used according to the label, products containing glyphosate are not a concern to human health and the environment" was explicitly made.^[12] The Seralini affair was noted in response to one (or several) complaint, and the agency explained its conduct with a link to its 25 October 2012 statement on Seralini.^[11] A report generated by the PMRA said that more than 25 million kilograms of glyphosate were sold in 2014.^[13]

In June 2017, a prothonotary in the Federal Court ruled in David Suzuki Foundation v. Canada (Health) that, in a review of the neonicotinoid clothianidin, Bayer CropScience "failed to satisfy the first branch of the Sierra Club test". The PMRA was dragged into court because they attempted to justify their ban on publication of Bayer's sensitive commercial information, which in the event, was found to be already in the public domain. In a stinging rebuke, it was held that the Applicants were "put to the expense of responding to the ever-changing nature of Bayer’s motion".^[14]

Personnel

As of January 2015,

• Richard Aucoin:^[9] Executive Director
• Jason Flint:^[9] Director, Policy, Communications and Regulatory Affairs Directorate
• Connie Moase:^[9] Director, Health Evaluation Directorate

As of January 2007

• Karen Dodds:^[15] Executive Director

References