Resolution

WHEREAS Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has conducted a re-evaluation of phosphide/phosphine, a product commonly used for fumigation of stored grains;

WHEREAS this decision entails several changes to its terms of use, including mandatory buffer zones;

WHEREAS phosphide/phosphine is the most extensively used product that we have in Canada to control pests in stored grain and vessels, and equally effective alternative fumigants are not readily available,

WHEREAS the mandatory buffer zones represent a de-facto ban on the use of this product in Canada for many facilities and, if passed, would impose significant economic costs on the Canadian grain industry;

WHEREAS the PMRA decision is based on consultations that were conducted in 2004;

BE IT RESOLVED that APAS lobby the PMRA to ensure its decision to change the terms of use for phosphide/phosphine is based on reasonable monitoring data and sound, science based evidence, prior to the implementation of mandatory buffer zones.