Cecilia Olver, Vice President of APAS commented, “It is unfair for producers to compete globally, while having to face retail input costs within our own borders that are protectionist in nature. Open access to products from around the world that meet our strictly controlled regulatory standards, simply encourage fair competition, and fair competition is healthy for any marketplace.”

Her comments were a response to recent statements made by CropLife Canada President Lorne Hepworth, who proposed that regulations that allow producers to import lower cost herbicides should be changed. He argued the “own-use import program” endangers Canada’s regulatory system because products under this program are not subject to the same regulatory process as Canadian registered products. CropLife Canada is the trade association representing the manufacturers, developers and distributors of pest control products and plant biotechnology.

“The own-use import program allows individual producers to save thousands of dollars a year on costs,” said APAS Vice President Olver. “We would like to see CropLife Canada work closely with producers to ensure they can have a profitable bottom line. The “own-use import program” offers producers a cost-effective choice for buying herbicide and other pesticide products. We believe this program is good policy.”

This past spring many producers took advantage of the own-use import program to buy ClearOut 41 Plus herbicide from the United States. ClearOut 41 has been deemed chemically equivalent by the PMRA to a current registered in Canada glyphosate product.

APAS will continue to support producers in getting value for their input costs.

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(Authored and distributed by APAS)