Re-evaluation Note REV2017-18, Pest Management Regulatory Agency Re-evaluation and Special Review Work Plan 2017-2022

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1.0   Background

The purpose of this document is to inform registrants, pesticide regulatory officials and the Canadian public of the re-evaluation and special review work planned by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 312022. This document provides an update to the previously published Pest Management Regulatory Agency Re-evaluation and Special Review Work Plan 2015-2020.

PMRA regulates pesticides in Canada, with the primary objective of protecting the health of Canadians and the environment. A pesticide may only be sold or used in Canada if it has been registered or otherwise authorized under authority of the Pest Control Products Act. PMRA uses a rigorous science-based risk assessment approach to ensure that the product meets health and environmental standards and has value.

As part of the pesticide re-evaluation program, registered pesticides are reviewed on a cyclical basis using modern assessment techniques and current scientific information. In addition, pesticides may also be re-evaluated as a result of changes in the information required or the procedures used by PMRA to determine that the pesticide meets current health, environment and value standards. A special review may also be initiated by the Minister of Health at any time if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the health or environmental risks, or the value, of a pesticide is no longer acceptable. Special reviews differ from re-evaluation in that a special review is intended to examine specific aspects of a pesticide.

PMRA publishes proposed decisions for public consultation. Following consultation, comments and information submitted by the public and other stakeholders are considered before PMRA publishes a final decision. This document lists the active ingredients included in the re-evaluation and special review work plan for the next five years - from 1 April 2017 until 31 March 2022. Tables in Sections 3.1 and 3.4 outline the expected target dates for the publication of proposed and final decisions. It should be noted that target dates are provided and, in some instances, documents may be published within a shorter timeframe as the complexity and amount of information available can vary.

2.0   Annual Update

On an annual basis, PMRA reports to Parliament on accomplishments and activities completed over the previous fiscal year; which includes re-evaluations and special reviews. The PMRA annual report can be found on the Pesticides and Pest Management portion of Canada.ca website.
The active ingredients for which re-evaluations and special reviews were completed from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2017 and that were listed on the previous 2015-2020 work plan have been removed from this work plan. Published documents related to these re-evaluations and special reviews are available on the Pesticides and Pest Management portion of Canada.ca website.

3.0   Work Plan 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2022

Resources have been prioritized in order to complete reviews and publish the related documents noted in the tables below. Priority will however be given to re-evaluations of active ingredients registered before 1995 as PMRA is committed to completing the remainder of these re-evaluations by 2020. This five-year work plan may change in response to emerging issues that require priority action; thus, while this work plan will be updated annually, during the course of the year interested stakeholders can monitor PMRA’s Public Registry to view the announcement of new re-evaluations and special reviews, as well as the publication of proposed and final decisions.

3.1 Re-evaluation Work Plan

The following table provides information on the target dates for the publication of proposed and final decisions for active ingredients under re-evaluation. Re-evaluations for which proposed decisions have been published are marked with a dash (-).

Re-evaluation Work Plan – Target Publication Dates for Active Ingredients

3.2  Re-evaluations Initiated in 2016

PMRA initiated the following re-evaluations in the 2016 calendar year. As outlined in the Re-evaluation policy, at the on-set of the information gathering phase, PMRA will publish project plans for re-evaluations designated as a Category 1 and 2. The project plans outline the areas of focus of the review, and associated timelines for the publication of the proposed decision.
The next update to this work plan will include target dates for the publication of proposed and final decisions for these active ingredients.

• Azoxystrobin
• Clothianidin
• Cymoxanil
• Difethialone
• Flucarbazone (Present As Flucarbazone-Sodium)
• Flufenacet
• Thiamethoxam
• Triticonazole

3.3 Re-evaluations to be initiated from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018

Re-evaluations for the following active ingredients are scheduled to be initiated from 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018.

• Spinosad
• Florasulam
• Zoxamide
• p-Menthane-3,8-diol
• Trinexapac-ethyl

3.4 Special Review Work Plan

The following table lists the special reviews that PMRA is carrying out and the target publication dates for proposed and final decisions. Special reviews for which proposed decisions have been published are marked with a dash (-).

Special Review Work Plan - Target Publication Dates