Order Amending the List of Pest Control Product Formulants and Contaminants of Health or Environmental Concern: SI/2024-44

Canada Gazette, Part II, Volume 158, Number 20

Registration
SI/2024-44 September 25, 2024

PEST CONTROL PRODUCTS ACT

The Minister of Health makes the annexed Order Amending the List of Pest Control Product Formulants and Contaminants of Health or Environmental Concern under paragraph 43(5)(b) of the Pest Control Products Act ^{footnote a}.

Ottawa, September 4 , 2024

Mark Holland
Minister of Health

Order Amending the List of Pest Control Product Formulants and Contaminants of Health or Environmental Concern

Amendment

1 Part 2 of the List of Pest Control Product Formulants and Contaminants of Health or Environmental Concern ^{footnote 1} is amended by adding the following in alphabetical order:

Molluscs
Mollusques

Coming into Force

2 This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order.)

In 2005, Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) established the List of Pest Control Product Formulants and Contaminants of Health or Environmental Concern (referred to hereafter as the List). Paragraph 43(5)(b) of the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) authorizes the Minister to establish, maintain, and make available to the public, a list of formulants and contaminants that the Minister considers to be of health or environmental concern. In accordance with paragraph 43(5)(b), the identity and concentration of a formulant or contaminant on the List in a pest control product that is registered in Canada are not considered confidential business information and the public will be able to have access to it.

The PMRA Regulatory Directive (DIR2006-02): Formulants Policy and Implementation Guidance Document outlines how formulants of concern are identified. Contaminants of concern are identified as chemicals designated for reduction or elimination under an international treaty or convention that Canada has ratified or a Canadian government policy or risk management strategy. Additionally, a formulant or contaminant is only included on the List if it is found in pest control products that are currently registered in Canada. These criteria and the process for updating and maintaining the List are set out in the Science Policy Note SPN2020-01, which works together with DIR2006-02. The list and criteria were last updated in 2020.

In 2023, PMRA registered two rodenticides with the active ingredient bromethalin, which go by the product names Tomcat Mouse Killer Bait Station Advanced Formula and Tomcat Rat Killer Bait Station Advanced Formula. Both of these products contain (as a formulant) molluscs, an allergen known to cause anaphylactic shock, and which is not currently on the List. While crustaceans are already included on the List, Health Canada has determined that molluscs are a separate category of shellfish necessitating a separate entry on the List.

As per Science Policy Note SPN2020-01, Part 2 of the List, entitled “Formulants of Health or Environmental Concern that are Allergens Known to Cause Anaphylactic-Type Reactions,” is to include formulants that are identified in the PMRA Formulants Policy as allergens known to cause anaphylactic-type reactions. As a result, Health Canada is amending Part 2 of the List to add “molluscs.”  Both products are already required to include “molluscs” on their labels as a condition of registration; the update to the List will reflect that fact.