Pest Control Products Regulations

In Canada, sterilants are regulated under the Food and Drug Act. Fumigants are regulated under the Pest Control Products Regulations of Health Canada [23, 24]. 

Pest Controls Products Regulations, Pest Management Regulatory Agency, Health Canada, 59 Camelot Drive, Nepean, Ontario, Canada KIA 0Y9. 

Precautions Since humans do not have the same chemical processes as insects, insect growth regulators are considered among the safest of pest-control products. They don t irritate the skin or eyes, and since the growthregulating hormones must be eaten by the pests to be effective, they are not as likely to affect beneficial and nontarget insects. 

Review of Present Legislation. In Canada, the primary federal acts that have been developed for the regulation of chemicals and which could potentially be utilized to regulate biotechnology are the Pest Control Products Act (PCP Act), the Food and Drugs Act (F D Act) and the Environmental Contaminants Act (EC Act). 

The main authority for regulation of pesticides in Canada resides in two Acts of Parliament, the Pest Control Products Act, administered by Agriculture Canada, and the Food and Drugs Act, administered by Health and Welfare Canada. This dichotomy of authority necessitates close cooperation between the two departments. In addition, various other acts address such aspects as water quality, fisheries, wildlife, etc., with respect to pesticides. 

The Biocidal Products Directive is a comprehensive European regulation on biocides with antimicrobial efficacy but also on pest control products such as insecticides, rodenticides, molluscicides, avicides, repellents and others. 

California, one of the first states to recognize the need for control, enacted legislation in 1901 governing the sale of insecticides. This was later broadened to include, under the term economic poisons, all materials used for pest control. In the almost 50 years of regulating these materials in California the law, which is the Economic Poisons Article of the Agricultural Code, has been modified from time to time, but the basic purpose has been to prevent sale of worthless products, to provide for adequate labeling, and to assure users that the products correspond to guarantee. 

In many cases, the U.S. tolerances and the Codex MRLs are similar, although there are other cases where they may be quite different. When U.S. tolerances and Codex MRLs can be compared directly, 47% have been shown to be equivalent, 34% of Codex MRLs were found to be lower (more restrictive), and 19% of U.S. tolerances were lower (General Accounting Office, 1991). There are a number of reasons that explain the differences these include the use of different data sets, different methods to regulate pesticide metabolites, and different agricultural production and pest control practices. 

The procedures used by the US to establish tolerances are similar to those used by the Codex Alimentarius Commission to determine their analogous Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs). One comparison of US tolerances and Codex MRLs demonstrated that the two sets of standards were equivalent 47 percent of the time while US tolerances were lower 19 percent of the time and Codex MRLs were lower (and therefore more stringent) 34 percent of the time. Some of these differences were explained to result from different agricultural production and pest control practices, the use of different data sets, and differences in how the breakdown products of some pesticides are regulated (General Accounting Office, 1991). 

Active ingredient In any pesticide product, the component that kills, or otherwise controls, target pests. Pesticides are regulated primarily on the basis of active ingredients. 

Many of the amendments have been prompted as a result of practical experience and continuing discussion between member states. The increased definition of the composition and conditions of use of soil amendments and pest and disease control products forming Annex II is a good example of the increasing level of detail that the Regulation has embraced. It is well known that the initial intention of the Commission when commencing the development of the Regulation was a fairly basic statement of the need to avoid the use of synthetic chemicals. It soon became clear that much more detailed rules would be required. 

Chemical control is the most widely practised method for vector and pest control in the Region. However, appropriate pesticide use is hampered, inter alia, by the lack of capacity, coordinated mechanisms and funding for the registration, purchase, application and quality control of products absence of effective systems for monitoring use and lack of implementation of existing rules and regulations. 

The term biocides (referred to as antimicrobials in North America) is not defined consistently across all countries. In some regulatory jurisdictions, this term includes all non-agricultural uses associated with the control of a variety of pests, including microbes, insects, rodents, etc., which are found in industrial and residential settings. In certain jurisdictions, biocides can also include products regulated as public health products e.g. disinfectants. In other jurisdictions, biocides only include industrial and residential pesticides used to control... 

Figure 1.3 A simplified diagram of the approvals process. Details will vary from country to country, but in essence, any new or altered pest control agent will need to satisfy regulators that it works, it is not toxic to non-targets organisms (including humans) and the environment, and that there is a need for and safe means of using, the product or procedure...

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