CropLife Canada is calling for a halt to the “Transformation Agenda” of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), citing the “existential threat” of potential U.S. tariffs.
In a letter shared with media and addressed to Greg Orencsak, deputy minister of Health Canada (the agency that oversees the PMRA), CropLife Canada president and CEO Pierre Petelle called the initiatives “rushed through” and said the agency had “little regard for the negative impact they will have on the competitiveness of the agriculture sector.”
Agriculture has often pushed back against PMRA changes that would impact crop management tools that industry argues it needs to remain competitive on a global stage, as well as the agency’s approvals process, which industry often says is too slow.
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The letter, dated Jan. 29, called for an immediate pause to a number of initiatives; including changes to fees, oversight policies and various other regulatory changes.
“An immediate pause is necessary to assess the detailed impact of these measures on the agriculture industry at a time when it is already facing extreme uncertainty,” Petelle wrote.
In an email to Glacier FarmMedia, Erin O’Hara, CropLife Canada’s vice-president of communications and member services, noted the urgency of the request and likened the call to capital gains tax changes, which have also raised considerable consternation in the agriculture sector.
“While trying to mitigate the risks from this threat, political and business leaders alike agree that Canada must put a greater emphasis on the things within its control to boost productivity and competitiveness at home,” she wrote.
Changes at the PMRA
The federal agency’s review was announced in August 2021, and the federal government said the goal was to improve the agency around four pillars:
- improved transparency,
- increased use of real-world data and independent advice,
- strengthened human health and environmental protection through modernized pesticide business processes and
- a targeted review of the Pest Control Products Act.
The government said they aimed to make it easier for the public to get involved in decision making and increase transparency in their operations.
One step was the creation of the Science Advisory Committee on Pest Control Products in Canada in early 2022, which CropLife Canada objected to.
Speaking to the Manitoba Co-operator at the time, CropLife Canada president and CEO Pierre Petelle worried that politics could override science, as he claimed it had already in the European Union.
“Their [EU] system is completely driven by politics and the science is routinely ignored,” Petelle said. “Again, I am not saying we’re there, but this is a very troubling development.”
