Sometimes it pays to shop around for the best deal. Ever compare the retail price of a product in Canada with the identical product in the United States? Did you find differences way beyond just the exchange rate of the dollar? Product pricing can vary substantially between markets and crop protection products can be no different. The best deals can sometimes be found south of the border.

Seeing the price disparity between Canadian and U.S. marketed versions of some crop protection products, Canadian growers fought for a mechanism to be able to access their inputs at better prices. It is slightly more complicated than a cross-border shopping trip to buy groceries or fill up on gas however. Crop protection products must be registered under the federal Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) in order to be legally possessed or used in Canada. Simply ordering U.S. crop protection products online for example isn’t an option.

The primary objective of the PCPA is to protect human health and the environment from the potential risks of of pest control products. If a U.S. version of a crop protection product is equivalent to one registered in Canada, there is no additional human health or environmental safety derived from prohibiting the use of the U.S. version for the same label uses as registered in Canada. 

Recognizing this reality, provisions in the federal regulations allow for the importation of a foreign product, without Canadian registration requirements, provided it is formally determined to be equivalent to a Canadian registered product and has an equivalent label. This led to the establishment in 1993 of the Own-Use Import Program, a price-discipline mechanism for the Canadian crop protection industry to provide Canadian users with access to lower-priced equivalent foreign products.

As with any initial program, there were some constraints and it found limited use during the first decade of implementation. To address these concerns, a task force was formed in the mid 2000s and suggested several revisions to the program. When these were implemented in 2007, the Grower Requested Own Use (GROU) program was launched which remains in place today.

The GROU program is administered by Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) and allows Canadian growers to import and use foreign versions of Canadian registered products. Use of the program has fluctuated over the years, depending on which products were included in the program, exchange rates, and product pricing. However, the mechanism remains in place to facilitate the use of imported non-registered products when conditions are favourable to do so.

To use the program, products must first be deemed eligible to include in the program. There are several criteria that must be met for a product to be included in the GROU program. Notably the product must not be under data protection in Canada – an exclusive use period of 10-15 years following an initial registration of an active ingredient. The manufacturer of the product in Canada must also have an equivalent version sold in the U.S.

New products can be nominated for review by PMRA via a national grower association such as the Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada. Upon receipt of a nomination, the PMRA will determine if the product is eligible for the GROU program and if acceptable it will issue a GROU Equivalency Certificate. This determines that the foreign product is equivalent to the Canadian registered version and a PMRA-approved label for the foreign product is created. This status is valid for up to two years and can be renewed if there is ongoing interest.

Once the product is determined as equivalent, a grower may apply to PMRA for a GROU Import Certificate for the foreign product. This includes information about the importer and how the product is to be used in Canada. Included with the application is a requirement for the grower to pay a small fee towards container recycling, otherwise there are no application fees in the GROU process.

Once PMRA approves a GROU Import Certificate, the U.S. product can then be legally imported into Canada. To purchase GROU-approved crop protection products, growers typically travel to the U.S. themselves. It is possible to have a designated agent or customs broker or carrier to import products on behalf of the grower applicant. A group of growers who hold approved GROU Import Certificates may also work together and designate one person to act on their behalf at the border. 

The PMRA-approved GROU label must be attached to the foreign containers upon importation or arrival at the farm. Once in Canada, imported GROU product can be used until the end of the growing season or November 30. Greenhouse products can be used for one year after the GROU import certificate is issued.

While only a limited number of products are available under the GROU program at any given time, some growers find value in the program every year. The current list of products can be found in the table. New products can be put forward for nomination to be reviewed for addition to the program every fall. Contact Chris Duyvelshoff at Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association or Christina Turi at Fruit and Vegetable Growers of Canada for more information.

Table 1: The following crop protection products for edible horticulture have been approved under the GROU program to be purchased in the United States with a PMRA-authorized GROU Import Certificate.