August 1, 2018
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Health Canada studies imidacloprid’s impact on pollinators


Health Canada is consulting Canadians on its proposed re-evaluation decision for the neonicotinoid pesticide imidacloprid, following an updated pollinator risk assessment. 

“Under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act and based on the evaluation of currently available scientific information related to pollinators, products containing imidacloprid are being proposed for continued registration in Canada, and risk mitigation measures are required to be in place to further protect pollinators,” stated the Proposed Re-evaluation Decision PRVD2018-12, Imidacloprid and its Associated End-use Products: Pollinator Re-evaluation.

Imidacloprid is used by agricultural workers and licensed applicators to protect crops from insects. It can be applied to the ground, leaves, seeds, and as a tree injection. 

This pollinator assessment is the last piece of the re-evaluation of imidacloprid. In November 2016, Health Canada published a Proposed Re-evaluation Decision for imidacloprid that assessed health and environmental risks but did not include an assessment of impacts on pollinators. In that document, Health Canada proposed phasing out all agricultural uses and many other outdoor uses of imidacloprid over three to five years for the protection of the environment.

This 2018 proposed regulatory decision is the pollinator risk assessment. It considers all additional information since Health Canada’s 2016 Re-evaluation Note, Re-evaluation of Imidacloprid – Preliminary Pollinator Assessment. It does not affect the 2016 proposed decision on agricultural and other uses. Consultation is open until August 29, 2018. To comment visit: www.canada.ca/en/health-canada.