| Proposed New Pest Control Products Act (PCPA 2002) Existing Pest Control
Products Act (PCPA) |
Existing Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) |
| Protecting Health and Environment |
Modern risk assessment methods will be enshrined in the PCPA 2002:
- Health evaluations of pesticides take into account sensitivities of vulnerable
groups such as children and seniors
- Extra safety factors are applied to protect children
- Pesticide exposure is aggregated and includes exposure through food, water, and
pesticide use in homes and schools
- Cumulative effects of pesticides that act in the same way are considered
|
Modern risk assessment methods are used but they are not incorporated
in the law. |
Safety information on pesticides will be provided to workplaces.
|
Registrants voluntarily provide safety information to workplaces but it
is not required by law. |
| Sustainable Pest Management |
The proposed new PCPA will more clearly support sustainable development
and sustainable pest management. Risks are minimized by ensuring that only products
that make a useful contribution to pest management are registered and that use rate
and frequency are as low as possible.
Registration of lower-risk products will be encouraged by allowing comparative
risk assessments when appropriate. |
A product must be effective before it is registered and only the lowest
effect rate is permitted. |
| Environmental evaluations take into account effects on plants and animals,
and biological diversity. |
Environmental risks are assessed but the law does not mention biological
diversity. |
| Companies will be obligated to provide pesticide sales data to the Minister.
This sales data is important in the monitoring of pesticide risk reduction. |
Some companies voluntarily provide sales data. |
| Making the Registration System More Transparent |
| Public consultation on all major pesticide registration decisions will
be enshrined in the PCPA 2002. Major decisions include decisions on new pesticide active
ingredients, significant new uses, Re-evaluations and Special Reviews. Summaries of
the risk and value assessments will be published for public comment before the decision
for full registration is finalized. |
The public is consulted on major decisions, but it is not required by
law. |
| The public will have access to detailed evaluation reports on the health
and environmental risks and the value of registered pesticides. |
Detailed evaluation reports are not available to the public. |
| The public will be able to inspect the confidential test data generated
for the health, environmental and value reviews of a pesticide. |
Test data are not available to the public. |
| The public and affected stakeholders may request the reconsideration of
a pesticide registration decision. |
Only an applicant or registrant whose registration is denied or cancelled
may request a reconsideration of the decision. |
| Strengthening Post-registration Control of Pesticides |
| Pesticide applicants/registrants will be obligated to report information
on adverse effects of pesticides. In response, the Minister of Health may initiate
a Special Review and must make findings that indicate significant risk available to
the public. |
Reporting adverse effects is not required by law. |
| Re-evaluations and Special Reviews |
Re-evaluations of older pesticides will be mandatory 15 years after the
registration of the product.
|
Re-evaluations are conducted under the existing PCPA but no time frame
is enshrined in the law. |
| A request from the public could trigger a Special Review of a pesticide. |
There is no formal mechanism to request a Special Review. |
| If a pesticide registrant does not respond when information is requested
for a Re-evaluation or a Special Review, that pesticide's registration may be cancelled
or amended. |
A registration can only be cancelled if data show that risks are unacceptable. |
| The precautionary principle will be applied during re-evaluations and
Special Reviews, i.e., where there are threats that a registered pesticide could cause
serious damage, it will not be necessary to await full scientific certainty to take
cost-effective measures. |
The precautionary principle is not enshrined in the law. |
| Enforcement |
| PCPA 2002 strengthens pesticide enforcement by clearly defining offences,
increasing the powers of government inspectors and allowing the imposition of higher
maximum penalties. |
Enforcement provisions and penalties are not commensurate with modern
Canadian legislation. |
