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 sunflower seeds to the product label of Assure II Herbicide, containing technical grade quizalofop-P-ethyl, is acceptable. The specific uses approved in Canada are detailed on the label of Assure II Herbicide, Pest Control Products Act Registration Number 25462.
The evaluation of this quizalofop-P-ethyl application indicated that the end-use product has merit and value, and the human health and environmental risks associated with the new uses are acceptable.
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.
In addition, the PMRA is proposing to establish MRLs for quizalofop-ethyl on commodities of Crop Subgroup 20A (Rapeseed; Revised), except flaxseeds, to permit the import and sale of food containing such residues. The PMRA has determined the quantity of residues that are likely to remain in or on the imported commodities when quizalofop-P-ethyl is used according to label directions in the exporting country, and that such residues will not be a concern to human health.
Residues of the resolved isomer quizalofop-P-ethyl are covered by MRLs established for quizalofop-ethyl, the unresolved isomeric mixture. Consultation on the proposed MRLs for quizalofop-ethyl is being conducted via this document (see Next Steps, the last section of this document). A summary of the field trial data used to support the proposed MRLs can be found in Appendix I.
