Event summary: Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency stakeholder information session, February 13, 2024
On February 13, 2024, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) held a virtual stakeholder information session on pest control product regulatory highlights and priorities. The theme for the session was "Integrating Transformation into PMRA's Day-to-Day Work".
The event included a presentation from leads on the Transformation Task Force, including an overview and achievements to date of the PMRA's Transformation Agenda, the integration of Transformation initiatives into operational activities, and next steps. Documentation provided to stakeholders who requested to attend also included pre- and post-market performance updates from the Registration Program, and the Value Assessment and Re-evaluation Management Program.
More than 110 participants from industry, academia, consumer and grower groups and associations, health and environmental non-government organizations including animal and wildlife health, provincial government representatives from all provinces except Newfoundland and Labrador, and other federal government departments took part in the virtual session.
Highlights and priorities
Transformation
Targeted review of the Pest Control Products Act
PMRA initiated preliminary consultations on proposed amendments to the Pest Control Products Regulations (PCPR) through the publication of the Notice of Intent (NOI2023-01), Strengthening the regulation of pest control products in Canada.
Lifting the pause on Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) increases
PMRA now publishes plain language consultation notices and summaries of proposed MRL increase decisions, and has published infographics on MRLs in Canada, and Confidence in what we eat to explain how MRLs are set and what they mean.
Ministerial announcement
On June 20, 2023, the Ministers of Health, Environment and Climate Change, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada announced next steps and concrete actions that the government is taking for a more sustainable approach to managing pesticides in Canada, and strengthening the pesticide review process. These included various measures intended to protect biodiversity while ensuring that Canadian farmers have the pest management tools they need to respond to growing demand for healthy and affordable food for Canadians and abroad.
Greening government strategy
PMRA noted that Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), in collaboration with the Treasury Board Secretariat and PMRA, have amended the Greening Government Strategy to eliminate the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes on federal lands. As the largest real-property owner in Canada, this initiative demonstrates the commitment of the Government of Canada to take action to reduce the risk to biodiversity from pesticides.
Global biodiversity framework
PMRA is working with other federal departments to identify initiatives, processes and measures to support collective efforts towards fulfilling Canada's commitment to implementing the 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF). The GBF commits Parties to reducing the rates of introduction and establishment of other known or potential invasive alien species by at least 50 per cent by 2030 (Target 6) and reducing the overall risk from pesticides by half by 2030 (Target 7). While Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) is the overall lead for the GBF and Target 7 (reduction in risk from pollution including plastics, fertilizers and pesticides), Agriculture and Agri-food Canada (AAFC) and Health Canada are collaborating closely to develop Canada's monitoring approach for the pesticide component of Target 7.
Increased use of independent data and advice
Water monitoring framework
The development of the draft Water Monitoring Framework was informed by a Canada-wide survey of federal, provincial and territorial partners, expert engagement from the Water Monitoring Technical Working Group (TWG) with members from other government departments, industry academia and non-government organizations. The draft Framework was also reviewed by the Water Monitoring TWG, and then released for public consultation.
Real-world pesticide use information
Real-world pesticide use information includes general use information and chemical specific usage information. PMRA has engaged with federal/ provincial/ territorial partners and stakeholders, including through sector-specific TWG meetings, to identify information sources, discuss data management and access strategies, and inform program policy development.
In Fall 2023, PMRA launched a custom survey with growers to fill specific information gaps to support pesticide reviews for select fruit and ornamental crops (e.g., apple, greenhouse cut flowers).
PMRA is currently working with the greenhouse sector to gather specific pesticide use information and fill data gaps.
Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products
The Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products (SAC-PCP) provides Health Canada with independent scientific advice to support evidence-based decision-making on pesticides. Since its inception science questions presented to the SAC-PCP for advice and recommendations have pertained to the following subjects:
- Proposed ministerial authorization pathway for pest control products of low or well-characterized risk
- Scientific communication of Maximum Residue Limits
- Science literature review strategy under Continuous Oversight approach
- Cumulative effects in environmental risk assessments
- The scientific criteria to inform the Proportional Effort framework for pesticides
Increased transparency
Improved transparency, with the goals of better enabling people in Canada to understand PMRA's processes and decisions, make it easier for people to find and request information, and better equip them to meaningfully participate in consultation and engagement activities, is a horizontal strategic objective that covers many aspects of PMRA's work. Some examples include:
- PMRA has established a science communications team that has developed communication products to describe how science is used to inform PMRA decision-making, for example on how pesticide Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) are set, through the use of infographics, a video, and a podcast with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada; and with the publication of the Science of Pest Management in Canada blog.
- Improvements have been made to key webpages to increase transparency for the public, such as the Public Registry, proposed decisions and updates, and plain language consultation summaries.
- To date, PMRA has worked on improved communication for 10 decisions since July 2023, including re-evaluation, registration and proposed MRL increase decisions. The first example of these can be seen in the atrazine consultation notice and summary. The summary was prepared from the more technical Proposed Special Review Decision document. It focuses on the most relevant details from the technical document that are potentially of greatest interest to a broader audience, with the aim of enhancing public trust and understanding of the proposed decision.
- Improved access to confidential test data through the remote Reading Room process (via USB encrypted key), and improved access to water monitoring data on the Government of Canada Open Data platform.
- PMRA now publishes an Agency-wide schedule of stakeholder meetings and engagement activities, with associated meeting material available upon request.
Modernized business processes
Modernized business processes will support timely scientific risk assessments and strengthen human health and environmental protection:
- A Continuous Oversight approach will enhance the PMRA's ability to keep pace and consider new science information
- A Proportional Effort approach will enable the PMRA to proportionately identify, assess and manage the priority of active ingredients based on the risk to human health and the environment
The success of PMRA's Transformation also depends on IT modernization and digitalization through modernized processes. The PMRA has developed new user-tested forms and cloud-based tools that will support the receipt, management and release of structured data, which will improve both pesticide review efficiency and transparency. Work is also underway on modernizing IT infrastructure to support these initiatives with the goal of increasing efficiencies.
Question and Answer sessions were held on the updates presented, and questions were also welcomed on the pre- and post-market performance updates provided as part of the documentation package. The majority of questions focused on:
- the transparency of decision documents
- the recommendations of PMRA's external advisory bodies
- the ratio of applications to registrations, the number of pesticides registered and de-registered in the past 2 years, and timelines for the review of MRL increase applications
- Canada's plans to meet the Global Biodiversity Framework 50% target for reducing the overall risk from pesticides by 2030
The session closed with PMRA's commitment to continued collaboration and engagement with stakeholders and partners as we progress and deliver on key priorities.
Contact us
Pest Management Information Service email: pmra.info-arla@hc-sc.gc.ca
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