Canada backs down from crop chemical ban, adds restrictions

Bayer Cropscience

19/05/2021 19:04

By Rod Nickel
    WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 19 (Reuters) - Canada's pesticide
regulator said on Wednesday that farmers could continue using
the chemical imidacloprid to control crop-destroying insects
under stricter conditions, softening an earlier proposal to ban
it.
    The chemical, made by Germany's Bayer AG  BAYGn.DE , is part
of the neonicotinoid class of pesticides that farmers have
sprayed on crops since the 1990s. Farmers use imidacloprid to
protect apples, potatoes and other fruits and vegetables from
aphids and beetles.
    Environmental groups have long said neonics harm beneficial
aquatic insects when the chemicals accumulate in ponds and
rivers. Those bugs are food for birds and fish. 
    The Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) proposed in
2016 phasing out imidacloprid due to those risks, before
extending a feedback period.
    Now in a statement with its final ruling, the agency said
that such risks are acceptable within certain limits, after
receiving public feedback and considering new water-monitoring
data.
    Farmers must reduce their application rates and not spray
within buffer zones around sensitive areas, it said. Uses in
certain situations are banned.
    Canada imposed other restrictions to protect bees in 2019.
    PMRA said in March it would also limit the use of two other
types of crop chemicals, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, which 
have been linked to deaths of aquatic insects.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LT2W4
    The European Commission banned outdoor use of all three
neonicotinoids in 2018 to protect honeybees, although some
countries have granted emergency authorizations. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency is reviewing the chemicals' use.
    Bayer has two years to update its Canadian product labels
with new application instructions. A Bayer representative did
not immediately respond to a request for comment.    

 (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
 ((rod.nickel@tr.com; Twitter: @RodNickel_Rtrs;
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