Finding information on cancelled pesticide products during the phase-out period

The purpose of this document is to explain how to find information from Health Canada's Pesticide Product Information Database (PPID) on cancelled products that are currently being phased out. When a product registration is cancelled with a phase-out period, its registration status in the Pesticide Product Information Database will show as "Phase-out" until the phase-out period is complete. Once the phase-out period is complete, the registration status will be changed to "Cancelled". This facilitates Health Canada and provincial regulatory authorities in monitoring for regulatory compliance during the phase-out period. Additionally, information on the phase-out period of a cancelled product (in other words, last date of sale by registrant, last date of sale by retailers/distributors, and the last date of use or expiry date) is available by searching the PPID.

Registrations of pesticide products may be cancelled due to various reasons, including the following:

• if a registrant fails to provide information required under the Pest Control Products Act,
• if product cancellation is required as a result of re-evaluation or special review or
• if a registrant submits a notice to discontinue the registration of the product.

When a product is cancelled, a phase-out period may be established to allow for an orderly depletion of existing stock in Canada. In 2018, Health Canada published DIR2018-01: Policy on Cancellations and Amendments Following Re-evaluation and Special Reviews (Health Canada's Cancellation Policy). In accordance with the Cancellation Policy, Health Canada considers the level of risk and may impose a phase-out period. This would allow existing stocks in Canada of the cancelled product to be exhausted in an orderly manner, to minimize potential risks associated with disposing of existing product all at once.

If there are no serious and imminent risks to human health or the environment, Health Canada will allow for a phase-out period consistent with the Cancellation Policy and will impose any conditions necessary for carrying out the purposes of the Pest Control Product Act under the authority of paragraph 21(5)(a) of the Act (Information Note: Update on implementation of post-market decisions, published on 21 December 2021).

No one is allowed to import or manufacture a cancelled product during the phase-out period.

As outlined in the Information Note, the cancelled product continues to be authorized under the Pest Control Product Act during the phase-out period. Registrants, retailers and users may continue to possess, handle, store, distribute or use existing stocks of the product in Canada, as the case may be, in accordance with the conditions imposed by Health Canada under paragraph 21(5)(a) of the Pest Control Product Act.

Information on the phase-out periods of cancelled products (in other words, last date of sale by registrant, last date of sale by retail, and product expiry date after which time it is no longer authorized) are available in the PPID. The following steps in the PPID illustrate how to find this information.

Searching the PPID

The Home Page

When you reach the Pesticide Products Information Database (PPID), you will be presented with different search modules. Note that the PPID only contains information about decisions that were made under the current Pest Control Products Act that came into force 2006.

To search for products that are cancelled, but undergoing a phase-out period, you need to query the product database. Click on the "Product Search" module.

The Query

After selecting "Product Search", you will be presented with a module that allows you to filter through the product database. In order to filter for products that are undergoing a phase-out, select the Filter "Registration Status", the operator "equal", and select "Phase-Out" from the value dropdown list.

Click "Search" to run the query

If you wish to confirm a phase-out period for a specific active ingredient, click ''Add rule''. Under the new rule, select the filter ''Active Ingredient-English'', select the operator ''Contains'', and in the value write the name of the active ingredient, or part of the name of the active ingredient.

Click "Search" to run the query

The Search Results

The search results will appear underneath the search query.

Clicking the Registration Number of any single record will navigate to the details page for that product. For example, if you click on "11819", it will bring you to the details page for "Gardex Vapona Insecticide Industrial Fogging Solution"

Products that are cancelled will have a date entered in the "Last sale by registrant" and "Last sale by retail" and "Expiry date" rows. The Expiry date is the last date of use and the last day on which the product is authorized.