AGRI Committee Report
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CHAPTER 8: ACCESS TO PEST CONTROL PRODUCTS AND THE COMPETITIVENESS The importance of access to effective, more environmentally friendly pesticides in the same way as American farmers was a recurring theme throughout the Committee’s hearings in the West, in the Maritimes and in central Canada. In May of this year, the Committee published a report entitled The Registration of Pesticides and the Competitiveness of Canadian Farmers, which contains four recommendations for improving the registration system. The Committee here reiterates the four recommendations made in that report: RECOMMENDATION 29 The Committee recommends that an ombudsperson, independent of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency and reporting directly to the Minister of Health Canada, be appointed to facilitate discussions on farmers’ various needs regarding pest control. RECOMMENDATION 30 The Committee recommends that the Auditor General of Canada conduct a value-for-money, or performance auditing, to examine the management practices, controls and reporting systems of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency. RECOMMENDATION 31 The Committee recommends that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada provide at least $1 million a year in funding for a research and analysis program similar to the U.S. IR-4, that will be developed in cooperation with agricultural stakeholders to generate, or complete, the necessary data for the approval of new minor use products or to expand the use of previously approved products. RECOMMENDATION 32 The Committee recommends that an advisor on matters pertaining to minor use pest control products be appointed to intervene in decisions and policies to facilitate activities relating to minor use products. The advisor’s mandate should include a special focus on the harmonization issues with the United States, such as the equivalency of similar zone maps, and the consideration of data that already exist in an OECD country. The advisor should report to the ministers of Health and Agriculture and Agri-Food. |