Canada backs down from crop chemical ban, adds restrictions (updated)

Bayer Cropscience

19/05/2021 21:53

(Adds comments from farm, environment groups)
    By Rod Nickel
    WINNIPEG, Manitoba, May 19 (Reuters) - Canada's pesticide
regulator said on Wednesday that farmers could keep 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 fruits and vegetables from aphids and beetles.
    Environmental groups, who criticized the ruling, say 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
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.
    The agency's decision to continue allowing use of
imidacloprid is encouraging, as it has already imposed numerous
restrictions, said Chris Duyvelshoff, crop protection adviser at
the Ontario Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association.
    PMRA said in March it would also limit use of two other crop
chemicals, clothianidin and thiamethoxam, linked to the deaths
of aquatic insects.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2LT2W4
    Canada's approach to managing the chemicals' risk is not
credible, a coalition of environmental groups said.
    "The decision today means we must cross our fingers and hope
for the best," said Lisa Gue, senior policy analyst with the
David Suzuki Foundation.
    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 Canadian product labels with
new application instructions. A Bayer representative did not
respond to a request for comment.    

 (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg; Editing by Matthew Lewis
and Peter Cooney)
 ((rod.nickel@tr.com; Twitter: @RodNickel_Rtrs;
1-204-230-6043;))