Pest Management Regulatory Agency
Date: 18 March 2011
ISSN: 1925-0843 (online)
Catalogue number: H113-24/2011-3E-PDF (PDF version)

Under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has registered two new end-use products, containing technical grade imidacloprid, for use in Canada on barley, oats and wheat. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the product labels of Stress Shield for Cereals and Stress Shield for Cereals and Soybeans, Pest Control Products Act Registration Numbers 29609 and 29610, respectively.

The evaluation of these imidacloprid applications indicated that the end-use products have merit and value and the human health and environmental risks associated with the new uses are acceptable. Details regarding the registrations can be found in the corresponding Evaluation Reports that are available in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website, under Public Registry, Pesticide Product Information Database.¹

Before registering a pesticide for food use in Canada, the PMRA must determine the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the food when the pesticide is used according to label directions and that such residues will not be a concern to human health. This quantity is then legally established as a maximum residue limit (MRL). An MRL applies to the identified raw agricultural food commodity as well as to any processed food product that contains it, except where separate MRLs are specified for the raw agricultural commodity and a processed product made from it.

Consultation on the proposed MRLs for imidacloprid is being conducted via this document (see Next Steps, the last section of this document).

To comply with Canada's international trade obligations, consultation on the proposed MRLs is also being conducted internationally by notifying the World Trade Organization, as coordinated by the Standards Council of Canada.

This action proposes to extend the 0.05 ppm Canadian MRL currently established for field corn and sweet corn to all other cereal grains (Crop Group 15). The proposed MRLs for imidacloprid in Canada in or on food, to be added to the MRLs already legally established, are as follows.

Table 1 - Proposed Maximum Residue Limits for Imidacloprid

Common Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodity
Imidacloprid	1-[(6-chloro-3-pyridinyl)methyl]-N-nitro-2-imidazolidinimine, including metabolites containing the 6-chloropicolyl moiety	0.05	Barley, buckwheat, oats, pearl millet, popcorn grain, proso millet, rice, rye, sorghum, teosinte, triticale, wheat, wild rice

A complete list of all pesticide MRLs established in Canada can be found on the Maximum Residue Limits for Pesticides webpage in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website.

International Situation and Trade Implications

The proposed Canadian MRLs are the same as corresponding American tolerances (as listed in the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Part 180, by pesticide) and Codex Alimentarius MRLs.² A listing of all established Codex MRLs is available on the Codex Alimentarius Pesticide Residues in Food website.

Next Steps

The PMRA invites the public to submit written comments on the proposed MRLs for imidacloprid up to 75 days from the date of publication of this document. Please forward your comments to Publications. The PMRA will consider all comments received before making a final decision on the proposed MRLs for imidacloprid and posting a corresponding Established Maximum Residue Limit document in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website.