New Environmental Legislations Highlight the AGCare Annual General Meeting

Jackie Fraser, Executive Diretor, AGCare

The proposed Grower Requested Own Use (GROU) program, the Clean Water Act, and proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act highlighted the discussion at this year’s AGCare Annual General Meeting. The April 3 meeting was hosted by the Ontario Farm Animal
Council with 165 representatives from the farm community and farm organizations and government staff.

Pierre Petelle of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and Craig Hunter of the Canadian Horticulture Council gave an update on where the proposed Grower Requested Own Use (GROU) program is at and how it differs from the old Own Use Import (OUI) program. Both experts have been involved in the Own Use Import Task Force for over a year.

On March 19, the PMRA announced that the GROU program would be implemented by July, 2007. The identity of the eight eligible products and the application process will be announced very soon. Petelle explained that the PMRA is not releasing the names of the eight
products at this time in order to avoid confusion until the program is fully in place. It is anticipated that these eight products from the pilot, as well as other potential candidates, will be eligible for importation once program processes are finalized in the coming weeks. Hunter
assured participants that the candidates are products that Ontario farmers would find useful.

Hunter also outlined how the process of “nominating” new products for GROU might look. Grower organizations would select and prioritize a list of candidates and submit these to the PMRA. PMRA would require the registrant to submit the data necessary to determine equivalency, within a set timeframe. PMRA has indicated that they will re-open the OUI process if pesticide manufacturers are not willing to
provide the information necessary to process GROU applications. He emphasized the importance of trying to make the GROU process work; having the registrants provide the data saves growers approximately $500,000 per product if they had to do the analysis themselves (as is the case under OUI).

A common concern was raised that registrants might tinker with products to ensure they cannot pass the equivalency test, however Petelle assured the group that PMRA would be looking for “meaningful” differences – differences that would materially affect toxicity or efficacy. Hunter confirmed that producers will not have to prove that there is a minimum 10% price difference, another common myth that has
been circulating.

The current equivalency certificate for ClearOut 41 Plus expires on June 28, 2007. If a sponsor provides sufficient evidence of continuing equivalency, a one-year renewal will be granted. ClearOut 41 Plus is also currently registered in Canada and there are currently no regulatory impediments to the Canadian-registered ClearOut being made available to farmers.

Petelle also reported on the NAFTA label project. The first NAFTA label was approved by both the PMRA and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on January 31. NAFTA labels would be the ultimate goal; products would be registered with both the PMRA and the US EPA, labeled and made available on both sides of the border.

John Fitzgibbon, Chair of the Ontario Farm Environmental Coalition (OFEC), updated the participants on the Clean Water Act. At press time, we are expecting regulations outlining how the Source Protection committees will be formed, including terms of reference, time limits
etc. More details will hopefully be available for next month’s column.

Debbie Ramsay of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) told participants about proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act through Bill 184. Compared to the existing Endangered Species Act, Bill 184 would contain significantly more flexibility, would provide for more effective species protection, allowing for a more flexible approach, supports a stewardshipfirst approach, and would be more transparent, allowing greater opportunity for landowner involvement. Some key opportunities for agriculture are open right now at the program development stage. There is an opportunity to help develop program and implementation methods to work with the stewardship funding commitment. AGCare will also be involved in designing programs to work with and support agricultural landowners. Agriculture has the opportunity to be active on the proposed Endangered Species Advisory Committee.

AGCare Elects a New Chair

Richard Blyleven of the Ontario Wheat Producers’ Marketing Board is AGCare’s new Chair for 2007. Blyleven operates a field crop and organic laying hen operation near Fisherville, Ontario.

Blyleven takes the helm from Max Kaiser of the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, who has been Acting Chair since Brian Besley stepped down last summer.

Rounding out the executive is Paul Wettlaufer of OFA as First Vice, Jamie Aalbers of Flowers Canada as Second Vice, and Charles Stevens of the Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association as Treasurer. Kaiser will stay on as Past Chair.

The remaining board members are Jim Coneybeare (Ontario Beekeepers’ Association), Kim Fysh (Ontario Soybean Growers), Marc McKeown (Ontario Canola Growers’ Association), Larry Lynn (Ontario Corn Producers’ Association), Linda Vandendriessche (Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board), David Marshall (Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers), Wilhelm Hilgendag (Ontario Seed Growers’ Association), Chris Kowalski (Ontario Potato Board), Gilbert VanSteelandt (Ontario White Bean Producers), Gerry Sullivan (Seed Corn Growers of Ontario), and Brent Kennedy (OMAFRA, ex-officio).