Pest Control Products Act (S.C. 2002, c. 28)

Prohibitions

Marginal note:Unregistered pest control products

• 6 (1) No person shall manufacture, possess, handle, store, transport, import, distribute or use a pest control product that is not registered under this Act, except as otherwise authorized under subsection 21(5) or 41(1), section 48 or 51, any of sections 53 to 59 or the regulations.

• Marginal note:Conditions of registration

  (2) Except as otherwise authorized under section 53.3 or 54, no person shall manufacture, import, export or distribute a registered pest control product unless it conforms to the conditions of registration respecting its composition and the person complies with the other conditions of registration.

• Marginal note:Packaging and labelling

  (3) Except as otherwise authorized under section 53, 53.3 or 54, no person shall store, import, export or distribute a pest control product that is not packaged and labelled in accordance with the regulations and, if it is registered, the conditions of registration.

• (4) [Repealed, 2016, c. 9, s. 35]

• Marginal note:Misuse of pest control products

  (5) No person shall handle, store, transport, use or dispose of a pest control product in a way that is inconsistent with

  • (a) the regulations; or

  • (b) if the product is registered, the directions on the label recorded in the Register, subject to the regulations.

• (6) [Repealed, 2016, c. 9, s. 35]

• Marginal note:Packaging, labelling and advertisement

  (7) No person shall package, label or advertise a pest control product in a way that is false, misleading or likely to create an erroneous impression regarding its character, value, quantity, composition, safety or registration.

• Marginal note:Activities that endanger health, etc.

  (8) No person shall manufacture, possess, handle, store, transport, distribute, use or dispose of a pest control product in a way that endangers human health or safety or the environment.

• Marginal note:Alteration, destruction or falsification — required documents

  (8.1) No person shall alter, destroy or falsify a document that they are required under this Act to keep, maintain or provide.

• Marginal note:Alteration, possession or use — official documents

  (8.2) It is prohibited for a person to

  • (a) alter a document issued or made — or in any manner given — under this Act; or

  • (b) have in their possession, or use, a document issued or made — or in any manner given — under this Act that has been altered.

• Marginal note:Possession or use of documents that resemble official documents

  (8.3) It is prohibited for a person to have in their possession, or use, any document that has not been issued or made — or in any manner given — under this Act if the document so resembles a document issued or made — or in any manner given — under this Act that it is likely to be mistaken for such a document.

• Marginal note:Offence and punishment

  (9) A person who contravenes any provision of this section is guilty of an offence and liable

  • (a) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $200,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both; or

  • (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than three years, or to both.

Registration of Pest Control Products

Applications for Registration or Amendment

Marginal note:Application to Minister

• 7 (1) An application to register a pest control product or to amend the product’s registration must be made to the Minister in the form and manner directed by the Minister and must include any information or other thing that is required by the regulations to accompany the application.

• Marginal note:Use of information provided by registrants

  (2) If the Minister determines that the active ingredient of the applicant’s pest control product is equivalent to the active ingredient of a registered pest control product, the Minister shall, subject to and in accordance with the regulations, permit the applicant to use or rely on any information referred to in subsection (1) that has been provided by any registrant if the Minister is satisfied that the information

  • (a) is relevant to the registered pest control product that contains the equivalent active ingredient; and

  • (b) is necessary to support the application.

• Marginal note:Foreign review or evaluation

  (2.1) For the purposes of subsection (1), the applicant may include information that is available from a review or evaluation of a pest control product conducted by the government of another member country of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development if the proposed use of the pest control product in Canada would be under conditions similar to those under which the foreign review or evaluation was conducted.

• Marginal note:Evaluation of pest control product

  (3) If the Minister is satisfied that the application has been made in accordance with subsection (1), (2) or (2.1), the Minister shall

  • (a) in accordance with the regulations, if any, conduct any evaluations that the Minister considers necessary with respect to the health or environmental risks or the value of the pest control product;

  • (b) expedite evaluations with respect to a pest control product that may reasonably be expected to pose lower health or environmental risks; and

  • (c) carry out any consultation required by section 28.

• Marginal note:Other information

  (4) The Minister may, by delivering a notice in writing, request an applicant to provide the Minister with other information in support of the application within the time and in the form specified in the notice.

• Marginal note:Denial of application

  (5) The Minister shall deny an application if the applicant does not comply with a notice under subsection (4).

• Marginal note:Burden of persuasion and consideration of information

  (6) During an evaluation,

  • (a) the applicant has the burden of persuading the Minister that the health and environmental risks and the value of the pest control product are acceptable; and

  • (b) the Minister shall consider the information provided by the applicant in support of the application and may consider additional information, but the Minister shall give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to make representations in respect of the additional information before completing the evaluation.

• Marginal note:Scientific approach

  (7) In evaluating the health and environmental risks of a pest control product and in determining whether those risks are acceptable, the Minister shall

  • (a) apply a scientifically based approach; and

  • (b) in relation to health risks, if a decision referred to in paragraph 28(1)(a) or (b) is being made or has been made in relation to a pest control product,

    • (i) among other relevant factors, consider available information on aggregate exposure to the pest control product, namely dietary exposure and exposure from other non-occupational sources, including drinking water and use in and around homes and schools, and cumulative effects of the pest control product and other pest control products that have a common mechanism of toxicity,

    • (ii) apply appropriate margins of safety to take into account, among other relevant factors, the use of animal experimentation data and the different sensitivities to pest control products of major identifiable subgroups, including pregnant women, infants, children, women and seniors, and

    • (iii) in the case of a threshold effect, if the product is proposed for use in or around homes or schools, apply a margin of safety that is ten times greater than the margin of safety that would otherwise be applicable under subparagraph (ii) in respect of that threshold effect, to take into account potential pre- and post-natal toxicity and completeness of the data with respect to the exposure of, and toxicity to, infants and children unless, on the basis of reliable scientific data, the Minister has determined that a different margin of safety would be appropriate.

• Marginal note:Government policy to be given effect in evaluation

  (8) In evaluating the health and environmental risks and the value of a pest control product, the Minister shall give effect to government policy.

• Marginal note:Comparative risk and value assessment

  (9) In determining whether the health and environmental risks and the value of a pest control product are acceptable, the Minister may, in accordance with the regulations, if any, take into account information regarding the risks and value of other pest control products that are registered for the same use.

• Marginal note:Representations

  (10) For the purposes of subsection (9), the Minister shall, before making the determination, give the applicant a reasonable opportunity to make representations in respect of the information referred to in that subsection.

Marginal note:Registration or amendment

• 8 (1) If the Minister considers that the health and environmental risks and the value of the pest control product are acceptable after any required evaluations and consultations have been completed, the Minister shall register the product or amend its registration in accordance with the regulations, if any, by

  • (a) specifying the conditions relating to its manufacture, handling, storage, transport, import, export, packaging, distribution, use or disposition, including conditions relating to its composition, and, subject to subsection (2), the conditions relating to its label;

  • (b) assigning a registration number to the product in the case of a new registration and, where the Minister considers it appropriate, in the case of an amendment; and

  • (c) specifying the period for which the registration or amended registration is valid, which period may be either finite or indefinite.

• Marginal note:Conditions relating to label

  (2) The Minister may specify conditions relating to the label of a pest control product, otherwise than in accordance with the regulations, if the Minister is satisfied that the purposes of this Act can be met by so doing.

• Marginal note:Provision of safety information to workplaces

  (3) Without limiting the generality of paragraph (1)(a), the Minister shall specify, as a condition of registration, the requirement for product safety information, including a material safety data sheet for the product, to be provided to workplaces where the pest control product is used or manufactured, in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 67(1)(s).

• Marginal note:Denial of application

  (4) The Minister shall deny an application referred to in subsection 7(1) if the Minister does not consider that the health or environmental risks of a pest control product are, or its value is, acceptable.

• Marginal note:Sales data

  (5) A registrant of a pest control product shall, as a condition of registration, record, retain and report to the Minister information on sales of the product in the form and manner directed by the Minister and in accordance with the regulations made under paragraph 67(1)(u).

• Marginal note:Former registrants

  (6) The obligation under subsection (5) to retain and report sales information in respect of a pest control product continues to apply to a former registrant after that product ceases to be registered.

Maximum Residue Limits

Marginal note:Specification at time of registration decision

9 When making a decision regarding the registration of a pest control product, the Minister shall, if necessary, specify any maximum residue limits for the product or for its components or derivatives that the Minister considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Marginal note:Specification for unregistered products and uses

• 10 (1) The Minister may specify maximum residue limits for an unregistered pest control product or its components or derivatives, or for a registered pest control product or its components or derivatives with respect to a use that is not provided for by its registration, whether or not an application under subsection (2) is made for that purpose.

• Marginal note:Application for specification

  (2) Any person may make an application to the Minister to specify maximum residue limits pursuant to subsection (1). Section 7, with any necessary modifications, applies to that application.

• Marginal note:Evaluation of health risks

  (3) When specifying maximum residue limits for a pest control product or its components or derivatives pursuant to subsection (1), the Minister shall evaluate only the health risks of the product or its components or derivatives.

Marginal note:Health risks to be considered acceptable

• 11 (1) The health risks associated with maximum residue limits specified by the Minister under sections 9 and 10 must be considered to be acceptable by the Minister.

• Marginal note:Relevant factors

  (2) If a decision referred to in paragraph 28(1)(a) or (b) is being made or has been made in relation to a pest control product, the Minister shall, in evaluating and determining whether the health risks associated with maximum residue limits for that pest control product or its components or derivatives are acceptable under subsection (1),

  • (a) among other relevant factors, consider available information on

    • (i) aggregate exposure to the pest control product, namely dietary exposure and exposure from other non-occupational sources, including drinking water and use in and around homes and schools,

    • (ii) cumulative effects of the pest control product and other pest control products that have a common mechanism of toxicity, and

    • (iii) the different sensitivities to pest control products of major identifiable subgroups, including pregnant women, infants, children, women and seniors; and

  • (b) in the case of a threshold effect, apply a margin of safety that is ten times greater than the margin of safety that would otherwise be applicable under subparagraph 7(7)(b)(ii) or 19(2)(b)(ii) in respect of that threshold effect, to take into account potential pre- and post-natal toxicity and completeness of the data with respect to the exposure of, and toxicity to, infants and children, unless, on the basis of reliable scientific data, the Minister has determined that a different margin of safety would be appropriate.