Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products (SAC-PCP) - Meeting Summary

Fourth meeting, Thursday, April 6, 2023, 1:00 to 4:00 pm EST
Virtual Meeting via Zoom

List of participants

Frédéric Bissonnette, Acting Executive Director, PMRA
Manon Bombardier, Assistant Deputy Minister, PMRA Transformation
Ruth Rancy, Director General, Policy and Operations Directorate and Executive Secretary to the SAC-PCP

The purpose of this fourth meeting was to present the PMRA's response to the SAC-PCP's advice and recommendations on the second charge question regarding the scientific communication of Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs), present a case study to illustrate the pesticide registration lifecycle, and present the conflict-of-interest assessment and rating system used for SAC-PCP membership.

The PMRA's Assistant Deputy Minister – Transformation
- began by welcoming all participants and observers to the fourth meeting and acknowledged that the land on which she was speaking from was the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg people;
- continued by thanking the members for their continued participation in helping to strengthen the scientific work of the PMRA through their involvement on the Committee;
- and provided an update on the Agency's transformation agenda and spoke to the valuable contribution of this Committee in the context of this transformation.

The Committee co-chair gave a brief introduction of Committee members in attendance, made a quick introductory address, and, in accordance with the Terms of Reference, asked each member to declare whether there had been any changes in their affiliations and interests since the last meeting.
- All members confirmed that their affiliations and interests had not changed since the last meeting, except for a title change for one Committee member. Committee members were reminded of the ongoing requirement to provide updated declarations and affiliations to the SAC-PCP Secretariat.
The Committee co-chair welcomed the twenty-four (24) observers and clarified that they may not participate in the discussions, either by speaking or by otherwise expressing their support for or disagreement with what is being said, unless specifically invited to do so. The co-chair also clarified that observers can only attend items on the agenda that are open to observers.
The Committee co-chair provided a brief walk through of the meeting agenda and clarified which portions of the meeting were open to observers.

An overview of the Committee's advice and recommendations, along with the PMRA's response, was presented.
The PMRA agreed with most of the Committee's recommendations. Additional explanations and background information were provided to the Committee to further clarify certain concepts. The remaining recommendations are being considered under the lens of a more global approach to public communication of the science and regulatory context on MRLs.
As recommended by the Committee, additional information and context were added to the template proposed maximum residue limit (PMRL) consultation document.
In parallel with the updates to the PMRL consultation document, separate science communication pieces are being developed that will address some of the Committee's recommendations (i.e., development of an MRL infographic, new web content, and a virtual dashboard).
Next steps will include the publication of a summary of the SAC-PCP's recommendations and the PMRA's response. Copies of the Advisory Report will be available upon request.

The case study presentation provided a registration history of the active ingredient used as the example, an explanation of each component of the risk assessment, and what had changed in the risk assessment between the initial registration and the re-evaluation.
The Committee members asked questions pertaining to the case study and the corresponding risk assessments.
Questions asked by the Committee members related to:
- The developmental toxicity studies selected for the human health risk assessment;
- The changes in buffer zones in the environmental risk assessment;
- The estimated environmental concentration in drinking water;
- The transformation products that were considered in the environmental risk assessment;
- The dietary component of the risk assessment;
- The application of uncertainty factors; and,
- General changes between the risk assessment conducted for the initial registration and the conclusions from the more recent re-evaluation.
Following the question period surrounding the case study presentation, all observers left the meeting so the in-camera portion of the meeting could begin.

The PMRA provided an explanation on the need for an external conflict-of-interest (COI) expert to assess all past and potential future members of the SAC-PCP and the CSE.
The external COI expert focused on conflict-of-interest vs. bias, factors to consider, managing conflicts, the risk management matrix model, and the overall conflict of interest evaluation process.
- The Committee members asked questions pertaining to the COI assessment presentation.
- Topics of the questions included how implicit bias could potentially be utilized.
It was agreed that this presentation be given again at a future SAC-PCP meeting, during the portion of the meeting that is open to observers, with any updates on new members in the Community of Specialized Experts.

The PMRA's Acting Executive Director thanked the Committee members for their participation, expressed the anticipation for the next meeting to occur in June 2023, and adjourned the meeting.