I would like to take the opportunity to respond to the article “Fertilizer regulations put the onus on farmers,” that was published on July 26, 2013.
The CFIA is transitioning to focusing its efforts on verifying the safety of fertilizers and supplements as this will provide farmers and producers access to new, safe and innovative fertilizers and supplements that are available in other jurisdictions. This approach will also provide industry with greater flexibility, reduced costs and less red tape. Industry will remain responsible for the quality and effectiveness of fertilizers and supplement products.
To be clear, the CFIA is not getting out of the business of regulating and assessing fertilizers and supplements for the safety of humans, plants, animals and the environment. The Agency will also continue to verify that fertilizer products are properly labelled.
The CFIA conducts safety assessments to examine all ingredients in a fertilizer or supplement including the active components as well as the formulants, carriers, additives, potential contaminants and by-products that might be released into the environment as a result of product's use and application to soil.
All products submitted to the CFIA for registration and approval will continue to undergo a label verification to ensure that displayed information is in compliance with the safety and labeling standards prescribed by the Fertilizers Act and Regulations. Evaluators will still verify that requisite information such as guaranteed analysis, directions for use, company/manufacturer information and mandatory cautionary statements appear correctly and are clearly legible on the label to protect consumers and facilitate safe and environmentally sustainable use of the product.
The CFIA launched a review of the Fertilizers Regulations in December 2011 as part of its regulatory modernization initiative, which represents an opportunity for additional changes to program administration. The objective is to reduce regulatory burden on products that are deemed safe and have a well-established history of use and to remove prescriptive provisions from the regulations, thus providing for greater flexibility and less red tape on the regulated sector.
The regulatory modernization proposal was developed in consultation with the stakeholder community, namely the Canadian Fertilizer Products Forum (CFPF). The CFIA anticipates that this initiative will bring benefits to the fertilizer and supplement industry, regulated parties, small business owners, users, producers and consumers. The proposal is available on the CFIA website for 60 day consultation (closing date of September 17, 2013).
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/fertilizers/program-overview/industry-notice-20130717/eng/1373986183883/1373986230308
Tony Ritchie
Executive Director, Plant Health and Biosecurity Directorate
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
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