Safe Food Matters Wins Glyphosate Court Case!
Back to the drawing board for PMRA to address the glyphosate objection
February 2, 2022. The Federal Court of Appeal has issued a decision in favour of Safe Food Matters in a court case concerning the pesticide glyphosate. The decision remits the matter back to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency for reconsideration, and offers strong guidance to PMRA to avoid “the endless merry-go-round” of court applications and reconsiderations.
In 2017, Safe Food Matters (and others) filed objections to PMRA’s decision RVD2017-01 to re-register glyphosate in Canada, and PMRA rejected the objections in 2019 with a form letter and dismissive reasons. Safe Food Matters filed in Federal Court, lost, then appealed. The win means a review panel could still be struck to review RVD2017-01 and recommend that it be confirmed, reversed or varied.
Mary Lou McDonald, LL.B., President of Safe Food Matters, commented:
When we started this case, we said ‘we believe in the …Read More
Lawsuit slams lack of transparency in Health Canada’s management of chlorpyrifos
PMRA sticks to three-year phaseout despite evidence chlorpyrifos causes brain damage in children
OTTAWA/TRADITIONAL, UNCEDED TERRITORY OF THE ALGONQUIN ANISHNAABEG PEOPLE —
Ecojustice, on behalf of Safe Food Matters and Prevent Cancer Now, is headed to court to fight for greater transparency, consistency, and accountability in how Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) makes decisions regarding harmful chemicals that impact the health of Canadians.
In a lawsuit filed on Thursday, the groups challenge the PMRA’s Second Phaseout Decision regarding the dangerous pesticide chlorpyrifos. This decision maintains the three-year phaseout period set out in a previous decision from the PMRA, also being challenged by the groups in court. By maintaining the three-year phaseout, chlorpyrifos pest control products will continue to be used, including on food, until December 2023.
Health Canada first cancelled all uses of chlorpyrifos in May 2021 with a three-year phaseout, due to a failure of registrants to provide essential human health …Read More
Le glyphosate en cour 9 décembre 2021
Le glyphosate fera l’objet d’un examen minutieux de la Cour d’appel fédérale du Canada le 9 décembre 2021. Safe Food Matters Inc. veut un examen de la décision de 2017 qui a permis au produit de rester enregistré au Canada pendant plus de 15 ans.
Ce cas diffère des autres cas de glyphosate. Celui-ci porte sur les mesures prises par l’organisme de réglementation, l’Agence de réglementation de la lutte antiparasitaire (ARLA), et non sur la question de savoir si le produit chimique cause le cancer.
Mary Lou McDonald, présidente de Safe Food Matters Inc., a déclaré :
« Nous ne pensons pas que l’ARLA ait effectué une évaluation valide du glyphosate avant de prendre sa décision concernant l’homologation. Nous leur avons donné un avis avec des objections détaillées et réfléchies, étayées par des preuves scientifiques et scientifiques crédibles, et l’ARLA vient de les rejeter d’un coup de main. Nous demandons à …Read More
Glyphosate in Court December 9, 2021
Glyphosate will be under scrutiny by Canada ‘s Federal Court of Appeal on December 9, 2021. Safe Food Matters Inc. wants a review of the 2017 decision that allowed the product to stay registered in Canada for another 15 plus years.
This case differs from other glyphosate cases. This one is about the actions of the regulator, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA), not about whether the chemical causes cancer.
Mary Lou McDonald, President of Safe Food Matters Inc. stated:
“We don’t think PMRA performed a valid assessment of glyphosate before making its registration decision. We gave them a notice with detailed and thoughtful objections, backed up with credible science and scientific rationale, and PMRA just dismissed them out of hand. We are asking the Court to look at what PMRA did, to hold them to account for proper decision-making.”Mary Lou McDonald, President, Safe Food Matters Inc.
If the Court agrees, a review panel …Read More
Pesticide Reform: Letter to Ministers
Re: Steps that Can Be Taken Now without Act Amendment
Dear Ministers of Health, Environment & Climate Change, and Agriculture and Agri-Food,
I am a lawyer and the president of Safe Food Matters Inc., a Canadian non-profit corporation founded in 2016 dedicated to protecting human health and the environment from harmful pesticides and crop production technologies. We think pesticide products can be quite harmful, and as a result they warrant proper and thorough assessment by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (“PMRA”).
The issue is so serious to us that we took PMRA to court over its 2017 reregistration of glyphosate, and the case is now at the Federal Court of Appeal. For more on the case, please see our backgrounder on our website https://safefoodmatters.org/.
Because of our lawsuits, we are very familiar with the Pest Control Products Act (the “Act”) and the approach of the PMRA to the Act. We are writing …Read More
UPDATE 2: GOVERNMENT PAUSES MRL INCREASES, AND WILL REVIEW PARTS OF THE ACT; BUT MORE IS NEEDED
On August 3, 2021, the Government of Canada announced it would pause proposed increases on Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) of pesticides, including MRLs for glyphosate. There was public outcry to the proposed increases, and the Ministers of Health, Environment and Climate Change and Agriculture and Agri-Food heard it.
The Government says it will review specific provisions of the Pest Control Product Act (the Act), including the initiation of the review process. Safe Food Matters, Prevent Cancer Now, Friends of the Earth and other NGOs have serious concerns with the way the Act has been managed for years by the Pest Management Review Agency (PMRA).
Safe Food Matters and others call for an inquiry into PMRA’s management of pesticides, and a full review of the Act. Some concerns warranting an inquiry and review are set out below.
Why a Full Review is Needed
With respect to MRLs, the Act states that any person can apply …Read More
UPDATE: Comment ’til Sept 3 on Glyphosate MRL increases
Health Canada/ PMRA has granted an extension for commenting on increased maximum residue limits in foods until September 3. The extension is because of “the level of interest and number of comments received to date” and COVID delays. A significantly large number of comments were submitted by July 20, the initial deadline.
The extension and additional background are in this document, which should form the basis for any new comments: Consultation on Glyphosate, Proposed Maximum Residue Limit PMRL2021-10 – Canada.ca.
Please submit comments to: E-mail: hc.pmra.publications-arla.sc@canada.ca Please share with SafeFoodMatters@gmail.com and Info@PreventCancerNow.ca
Here is the initial post and detail on the Proposal. Look for additional communications and what you can say and do about the Proposal, coming soon.
HOW TO TAKE ACTION ON GLYPHOSATE
2 ways:
- To comment by July 20, 2021 on Health Canada’s proposal to increase maximum residue limits: email hc.pmra.publications-arla.sc@canada.ca with comments on PMRL 2021-10. Please cc SafeFoodMatters.org More info here.
- Help fund our legal case against Health Canada over glyphosate through our GoFundMe Link below.
GoFundMe link: http://gf.me/u/y4qsvc
Health Canada Wants to Increase Glyphosate in Food
Have your say by July 20th!
Issue
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) is proposing to increase the amount of glyphosate (Roundup®) permitted in Canadian food. Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) may be doubled, tripled or almost quadrupled for oats and bran, lentils, peas and 25 types of beans such as chickpeas, kidney beans and pinto beans, as well as nuts (almonds, pecans and walnuts, mostly coming from the US).
Crop
Current MRL
(ppm)
Proposed MRL
(ppm)
Proposed Increase
Oats and bran
15
35
2.3 fold
Lentils
4
10
2.5 fold
Peas
5
10
2.0 fold
Beans
4
15
3.75 fold
Nuts
0.4 ppm
1
2.5 fold
Why? Farmers are using more glyphosate-based herbicides (GBHs). This amounts to regulation of the status quo.
As weeds become resistant, higher herbicide doses affect the environment, contaminate our food and risk our health. This model threatens Organic Agriculture, and does not optimize carbon capture in soil, support biodiversity, nor build resilience to face the climate crisis.
Whose food will be most affected?
Canadian children. Glyphosate in childrens’ cereals (in oats and bran) are already …Read More
Corporate “Controllover” of Health Canada on Gene-Edited foods
Safe Food Matters’ Comments on Health Canada’s Proposed New Guidance on Novel Foods
Health Canada is the regulator of gene-edited foods, but in March, 2021 it proposed to hand this role over to industry. Safe Food Matters provided comments on the proposal, indicating the hand-over would amount to an “abdication” of regulatory authority, or an improper delegation of such authority. Relying on industry’s “safety determinations” is misguided because industry’s driving force is not safety but profit, and the hand-over may subject Health Canada to claims of regulatory negligence. Our short submission is here.
