Update on OUI and GROU

Jackie Fraser, Executive Diretor, AGCare

The Grower Requested Own Use Imports (GROU) program entered implementation in July, 2007 replacing the Own Use Imports (OUI) program.

The American equivalent of five products are now available through GROU; Basagran liquid herbicide, Banvel II herbicide, Roundup
Weathermax with Transorb 2 Technology liquid herbicide, Reflex liquid herbicide, and Touchdown iQ liquid herbicide.

Growers had anticipated eight products to be made available through the new program, however three products fell under federal patent and exclusive use provisions. A requirement of the GROU program (and the previous OUI program) is to compare the chemical formulation data, if a formulation is protected under patent, the registrant doesn’t need to provide this information.

This was a disappointment to AGCare. Growers and their organizations felt that registrants were not perhaps acting in good faith. Certainly they could have revealed that products were under patent protection long before the 11th hour? The PMRA has committed to re-opening the OUI program if pesticide manufacturers are not willing to co-operate with the GROU program.

Understanding growers’ expectations for eight GROU products, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has promised to expedite the review of additional grower-nominated priorities in order to add three more products for this growing season. These products have not been approved as of August 21.

The four national grower organizations on the OUI Task Force - the Canadian Federation of Agriculture (CFA), the Canadian Horticulture
Council (CHC), Grain Growers of Canada (GGC), and Pulse Canada – will meet in early fall to prioritize products for future consideration. An initial maximum of twenty will be allowed per year.

AGCare is working to put together a “wish list” for Ontario’s grower. OCPA has submitted Atrazine, Dual II, Magnum, Frontier, and Prowl. We are going to take in all recommendations from our parent organizations and seek a way to have them considered by the OUI Task Force grower organizations. Stay tuned for more information from AGCare on this.

There has been some confusion about the status of the old OUI program. This program has ended, however a one year extension of the “equivalency certificate” for ClearOut 41 Plus has been granted, so this product will continue to be available until June 28, 2008.