Getting Involved in Canada's Pesticide Regulatory Process
Canada's Pest Control Products Act allows the public to view the information used to make pesticide regulatory decisions and offers more avenues to participate in the regulatory process. Under the Act, the public will be able to:
- obtain information about open applications to register or amend pesticide products, including new uses
- view and provide comments on proposed registration decisions before they are finalized
- review evaluation reports and final decision documents
- inspect confidential test data once a registration decision has been made
- submit a notice of objection to a registration decision
- request a special review of a pesticide
Accessing Pesticide Regulatory Information
With the coming into force of the Act, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) established a Public Registry and a Reading Room to allow the public to inspect information relating to pesticide registration. Much of this information was not available under the previous legislation.
Public Registry
On the Public Registry, you will be able to access the following information from the PMRA's website:
- information relating to a pesticide
- information relating to an application to register or amend the registration of a pesticide
- PMRA consultation statements and decision statements
- evaluation reports
- citations to research used in evaluation
- conditions of registration
- research authorizations
- Own-Use Import certificates
- memoranda of understanding among federal government departments relating to pesticides
- reports of international harmonization activities
- regulations, policies, guidelines and codes of practice, both proposed and final
Reading Room
The Reading Room is where you can inspect confidential test data supporting a decision to register or amend a pesticide. For more information, see Inspection of Confidential Test Data: Guidance Document. These data were not available for inspection under the former Act. The data will be made available for inspection in an electronic format and, because they are confidential, they may not be copied or otherwise removed from the Reading Room.
What is available for inspection?
Confidential test data provided by registrants is the only information that will be available for inspection in the Reading Room. Other non-confidential PMRA information on pesticides, the pesticide regulatory system and initiatives of the PMRA will be available through the Public Registry on the Pesticides and pest management portion of Canada.ca.
What is not available for inspection?
Confidential business information, specifically defined in the Act as manufacturing processes, methods for determining the composition of the product, financial or commercial information, and the identity and concentration of formulant ingredients and contaminants that do not pose a health or environmental concern, will not be available for inspection.
Accessing the Reading Room
A request to inspect test data in the Reading Room is required, along with a signed affidavit or statutory declaration attesting that the data will not be used or made available for others to use to register or amend the registration of a pesticide in Canada or elsewhere. Data owners will be notified of a request to view their data.
Opportunities for Public Involvement in Regulatory Decisions
Consultations on proposed major registration decisions
Public consultations are conducted for all proposed major registration decisions, such as new registrations or major new uses of a pesticide, re-evaluations or special reviews. Documents outlining the evaluation are made available to the public through the Public Registry on the PMRA's website. Following the publications of the proposal documents, there is a consultation period during which interested parties can submit comments. Health Canada will consider these comments before making a final decision.
Notices of Objection
If, after reviewing the final decision document to register a new active ingredient or a major new use of an active ingredient, a re-evaluation, or special review and/or the data in the Reading Room, you believe there is a scientific basis for reconsidering a regulatory decision, you can file a Notice of Objection. You have 60 days from the final decision date to submit a Notice of Objection along with the scientific rationale and evidence/references to support the objection.
Please refer to the Instructional Guide: Submitting a Notice of Objection for detailed instructions on how to format and submit the Notice of Objection.
The PMRA will determine if the Notice of Objection is eligible for consideration and whether the objections raise scientifically-founded doubt on the validity of PMRA's final registration decision. An impartial team of scientists, not involved in the original decision, will conduct the review of the objections to determine whether or not the establishment of a Review Panel is warranted to address the subject matter of the objection. The Review Panel, if required, will consist of subject matter experts from academia, international regulatory organizations, or the private sector. Panel members must provide written attestations regarding relevant affiliations and interest to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. They are also required to provide evidence of an "Enhanced Reliability" security clearance or equivalent.
A Public Notice will be issued when a Review Panel is convened in response to a Notice of Objection. Stakeholders have 45 days to provide written representation that will be shared with the Review Panel for consideration. If the Review Panel would benefit from additional information, a hearing that is open to the public may be organized. The Review Panel will provide PMRA with a written report with their recommendations on the questions that were posed by the PMRA. These recommendations will be considered by the PMRA to determine if the decision being reviewed should be confirmed, reversed or amended. Once PMRA reviews the Review Panel's recommendations and makes a final decision, the Panel's report and final regulatory decision will be made public, though the Public Registry.
Requests for Special Reviews
A special review will be initiated if there is scientific evidence that the health or environmental risks, or the value of a pesticide are unacceptable. Under the new Act, special reviews can be triggered by information supported by scientific evidence received from other federal or provincial departments, from a member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development or from the public. If new scientific evidence that raises a concern regarding a registered pesticide becomes available, the public can submit it and request a special review of that pesticide. Health Canada will review the new scientific evidence and decide on an appropriate course of action.