New glyphosate label requirements routine says OFVGA spokesman

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

by SUSAN MANN

The additional label requirements being proposed by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency for glyphosate as part of the herbicide’s re-evaluation are no big deal, says an Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association spokesman.

The proposed new label statements “are the same kind of boilerplate requirements they (Pest Management Regulatory Agency) are putting on most labels,” says Craig Hunter, association crop protection and research specialist, adding PMRA “has been doing these label improvements for many years now.”

After re-evaluating glyphosate, PMRA says in a summary document posted on its website it’s proposing continued registration for products containing glyphosate for sale and use in Canada. Glyphosate is a non-selective herbicide registered for post-emergence control of a wide range of weeds, such as annual and perennial broadleaf and grassy weeds, weedy trees and brush, the summary says.

Hunter says on the Ontario Pesticide Use Survey glyphosate has been the top product for the last 15 years based on volume used. It has been used in Canada since 1973.

PMRA says its evaluation of available scientific information found products “containing glyphosate do not present unacceptable risks to human health or the environment when used according to the proposed label directions.”

The World Health Organization International Agency for Research on Cancer recently assigned a hazard classification of “probably carcinogenic to humans” for glyphosate but PMRA’s summary says a hazard classification is not the same as a health risk assessment. The actual level of human exposure, which determines the actual risk, wasn’t taken into account by the World Health Organization’s cancer research agency, PMRA says.

Hunter says he was really pleased PMRA clarified the World Health Organization’s hazard classification for the product.

PMRA proposed label changes include:

• For human health – in connection with agricultural uses, adding instructions to restrict entry to treated sites for 12 hours following application. Manufacturers will also be required to include a statement instructing users to apply the product only when there is minimal possibility of drift to schools, residences and recreational areas.
• For the environment – manufacturers must add statements informing users of the product’s toxicity to non-target species and the need for spray buffer zones to protect non-target terrestrial and aquatic species. Precautionary statements must also be added advising users about the risk of applying glyphosate at sites conducive to runoff or when heavy rain is forecasted. Also to be added is a recommendation to include a vegetative strip between the treatment area and the edge of a water body to reduce glyphosate runoff to aquatic areas.

Before PMRA makes a final decision on glyphosate’s re-evaluation it will take into account any public comments received from its proposed re-evaluation. People have 60 days to comment from the April 13 date the proposal was posted. BF