What impact will this have for agriculture? How will this impact pesticide registrations and reviews?
This new committee and the agriculture industry’s response will be discussed as part of the MRL panel discussion, which will include Gord Kurbis, Canada Grains Council, Terri Stewart, Crop Life Canada, and a senior representative from the PMRA during the upcoming 2022 CAAR Virtual Conference.
CAAR and many of its partners believe that the committee’s mandate is too broad, reaching beyond scientific questions, and could contradict and undermine the PMRA’s expertise on matters that have already been concluded by the PMRA.
With the establishment of the new Committee, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is seeking nominations of experts with relevant knowledge and experience in pesticide use in Canada, environmental fate and modelling, health and environmental risk assessment, and pesticide value assessment.
CAAR members are encouraged to review the announcement details, call for nominations, and proposed terms of reference, consider whether anyone within your network would be interested in serving as a committee member, and ensure that the voice of the agriculture industry is properly represented.
Interested individuals must apply online by March 11th, 2022. CAAR will work with a similar-minded agriculture organization to ensure Committee candidates are adequately grounded in science and agriculture practices to avoid conflicts of interest and recommendations that harm Canadian agriculture production and export competitiveness.
CAAR and its partners remind the government that PMRA is considered a world leader in science-based pesticide regulation. Stakeholders remain concerned that the political context in which the panel was announced suggests Canada is moving away from its science-based approach.
CAAR and its partners are concerned the panel could have unintended, long-term consequences for agriculture. Current PMRA processes already provide opportunities for engaging experts in regulatory decision-making.
CAAR and its partners support the PMRA that a science advisory committee should provide advice solely on matters the PMRA determines as areas of scientific uncertainty. Scientific value could be added to the PMRA’s review process if the committee is strictly limited to this role.
For more information or to discuss concerns about the committee’s establishment, please contact CAAR’s Executive Director Mitch Rezansoff or (204) 989 9303.
