Pest Management Regulatory Agency
22 March 2011
ISSN: 1925-0843 (PDF version)
Cat. No.: H113-24/2011-05E-PDF (PDF version)

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Under the authority of the Pest Control Products Act, Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has concluded that the addition of new uses on canola quality Brassica Juncea varieties with the Clearfield trait to the product labels of Solo WDG Herbicide, containing technical grade imazamox, and Odyssey WDG Herbicide, containing technical grade imazamox and imazathapyr, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the labels of Solo WDG Herbicide and Odyssey WDG Herbicide, Pest Control Products Act Registration Numbers 25496 and 25111, respectively.

The evaluation of these 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.^{Footnote 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.

An MRL of 0.05 ppm is currently established for imazamox in or on rapeseeds (canola) and this MRL action proposes to extend that MRL to the remaining commodities in Crop Subgroup 20A.

Consultation on the proposed MRLs for imazamox 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.

The proposed MRLs for imazamox 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 Imazamox

Chemical Name	Residue Definition	MRL (ppm)	Food Commodities
Imazamox	2-[4,5-dihydro-4-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl)-5-oxo-1H-imidazol-2-yl]-5-(methoxymethyl)-3-pyridinecarboxylic acid	0.05	Borage seeds, cuphea seeds, echium seeds, flaxseeds, Gold of Pleasure seeds, Hare's ear mustard seeds, milkweed seeds, mustard seeds (oilseed type), oil radish seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sweet rocket seeds

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 United States Environmental Protection Agency has established an exemption from the requirement of a tolerance for residues of imazamox in or on all food commodities when applied as a herbicide in accordance with good agricultural practices (see the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 40 CFR Section 180.1223). Currently, Codex Alimentarius MRLs^{Footnote 2} have not been established for imazamox on any commodity. 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 imazamox 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 imazamox and posting a corresponding Established Maximum Residue Limit document in the Pesticides and Pest Management section of Health Canada's website.