Pest Control Products Regulations Update

Summary#

These are final amendments to the Pest Control Products Regulations (Applications and Imports) published by Health Canada in the Canada Gazette. They change what information companies must give when registering or importing pest control products, clarify rules for products that are treated with pesticides, allow some products to be handled under other federal laws, and extend some emergency approvals to up to 3 years.

What it does#

• Defines and explains a treated article (an inanimate product treated with a pest control product) and an antimicrobial preservative.
• Removes the need to list every packaging or labelling site on registration forms for most products. Instead, companies must keep records of those sites for 5 years and provide them on request.
• Removes the need to list formulant suppliers on applications. Companies must keep supplier records for 5 years instead.
• Allows emergency registrations to be valid for up to 3 years (instead of a maximum of 1 year).
• Lets certain items treated with preservatives avoid pesticide registration when those items are already regulated under the Feeds Act, the Fertilizers Act, or the Food and Drugs Act (including some drugs, cosmetics and Class II–IV medical devices), and when the preservative is only used to protect the article.
• Authorizes antibacterial and antifungal food-preservative additives on Health Canada’s List 11 (Classes 2 and 3) to be used as preservatives without a separate pesticide registration when used only to preserve an article and not in excess.
• Makes electronic delivery of required notices and documents acceptable and sets rules for when an electronically sent document is considered delivered.
• Expands and clarifies import declaration requirements: importers must give contact info (email or phone), more precise quantity information, and, for treated seed, the seed species, country of origin, and active ingredient amount per 100 kg of seed. Import declaration records must be kept for 2 years.
• Repeals a duplicative rule about a specific impurity (N‑nitrosodi‑n‑propylamine) in one herbicide.
• Clarifies that safety documents on tank cars or tanker-trailers must be affixed “within reach of and clearly visible to the person operating the control valve.”
• Adds a rule that the regulator can refuse applications for products that contain active ingredients Canada has already agreed to prohibit under the Stockholm Convention.
• Tweaks definitions (for example, removing “true seeds” redundancy and narrowing the word “device”) so the rules read more clearly.

Who's affected#

• Registrants and applicants (companies that make, register, or sell pesticides and related products).
• Importers of pest control products and treated seed.
• Manufacturers and sellers of treated articles (for example, textiles treated with preservatives, insecticide-treated clothing, treated landscape fabrics).
• Businesses regulated under the Feeds Act, Fertilizers Act, or Food and Drugs Act whose products contain antimicrobial preservatives (these may avoid separate pesticide registration for those preservative uses).
• Small businesses: the regulator estimates the changes will affect about 219 businesses and that roughly 175 small businesses could see reduced administrative burden.
• Consumers and growers may notice indirect effects (for example, changes in how treated seed is imported or how quickly certain emergency uses can be authorized).

Why it matters#

• It reduces paperwork for companies in some common situations (packaging/site changes and formulant supplier changes). That can lower costs and speed up routine updates.
• It clarifies when items that have been treated with preservatives do or do not need pesticide registration. That reduces duplication when another federal law already covers the preservative.
• Importers will need to provide clearer contact and product details at the border. That helps enforcement and tracking.
• Some emergency pest responses can now be planned for a period up to 3 years, which can help in multi-year infestations (for example, some invasive species scenarios).
• The rules align Canada’s pesticide oversight with international commitments under the Stockholm Convention by allowing outright refusals for products containing chemicals Canada has agreed to ban.
• Some parts took effect on publication in the Canada Gazette (publication date December 7, 2022), and other parts come into force after a transition of 180 days to give industry time to adjust.