ARCHIVED - Memorandum to Registrants, Applicants, and Agents (2002)

April 9, 2002

Re: Bilingual Labelling Requirements for Pest Control Products (Pesticides) under the Pest Control Products Act

This memorandum is provided to bring to your attention the enclosed regulatory amendment, which requires bilingual labelling on all pest control products (pesticides) manufactured, imported, sold, or used in Canada.

Prior to this amendment, Section 39 of the Pest Control Products Regulations allowed the use of either the English or the French language, or both, on pest control product labels. However, Section 26 of the Official Languages Act in effect requires that information relative to health and safety be available in both official languages, wherever it is reasonable to do so. This regulatory amendment was developed to resolve this discrepancy.

The requirement for bilingual labelling on all pest control products will ensure that all users of pesticides in Canada have access to complete pest control product label information in their preferred official language. It will also strengthen the protection of health, safety, and the environment by providing greater certainty that pesticide users are able to understand and follow the information on the labels.

The requirements for bilingual labelling will be phased in over a five-year period, beginning January 1, 2003, as registrations are granted. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency is in the process of developing a regulatory document to explain how the Agency proposes to implement the new regulatory requirement and what will be expected of registrants and applicants.

A supplemental label relating to an emergency use of a product that does not yet have a bilingual label will not need to be bilingual. If the bilingual requirement has already been triggered for the product because its registration has been granted, amended, or renewed on or after January 1, 2003, the supplemental label will also need to be bilingual.

The regulatory amendment was published in the Canada Gazette Part II on December 5, 2001.

Enclosure: Copy of the Canada Gazette Part II Publication of the Regulatory Amendment and the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement.

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