Forest Spraying 1: Based on Faulty Approval
Pesticides are being sprayed on Canadian forests, killing the diversity of forest life. The resulting harms are plant and animal death, destruction of forest foods, and accelerating forest fires.
How is this allowed?
The registration approval for this use of pesticides comes from the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) of Health Canada, the agency responsible for “managing pests”. The licenses to spray are then granted by the provinces. (Quebec has banned forestry spraying since 2001.)
PMRA says that unwanted trees and brush are “pests”. Pests are defined in the “Pest Control” law to include “a plant… that is injurious, noxious or …Read More
“Highly Uncertain” Science Used for Pesticide Limits
Pesticide limits for sugar beet roots – the first up for MRL increases after the “pause” – are based on uncertain science
Confidential test data reveals there is “High uncertainty of [the] MRL estimate” for two increases of pesticide maximum residue limits (MRLs) on sugar beet roots (used for sugar products), which were requested by Syngenta and proposed by Health Canada. The proposed MRLs, which are 200 times and 10 times higher than current levels, were calculated using the OECD Calculator. The output page of the calculator flags in red that there is high uncertainty because small data sets were used.
Health …Read More
Preliminary Hearing on Oct 24 2023 over Glyphosate Product Renewal
On October 24, 2023, Safe Food Matters is n Federal Court with other groups in the first step of its “product renewal case” over a glyphosate product. We are seeking documents to show what science, if any, PMRA looked at in its renewal.
Safe Food Matters Goes Back to Court June 13 with Health Canada on Glyphosate
On June 13, 2023, Safe Food Matters returns to federal court in its ongoing battle with Health Canada over glyphosate, Canada’s most widely used herbicide.
This is the first step in our second lawsuit against Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) for re-registering this harmful pesticide. We are seeking documents to show what’s really going on behind closed doors at the PMRA.
Why? Because something’s not right. In February, 2022, the Federal Court of Appeal ordered the PMRA to review our “Notice of Objection” for a second time – and the Court even provided “Guidance” to PMRA on how to address the issues. But PMRA did not follow the Guidance.
More than that, PMRA bent over backward to not address the concerns we raised. PMRA rewrote history. PMRA made up totally new legal tests. PMRA defied the rules of procedural fairness. It is clear PMRA does not want a review panel, even though the law allows for it.
So what’s going on?
