The Ontario Fruit and Vegetable Growers’ Association (OFVGA) in concert with the Canadian Horticultural Council have successfully argued for a change in PMRA’s decision to cancel uses of mancozeb.

In June 2018, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) announced that commonly used fungicides – mancozeb and metiram – will be eliminated in most horticultural crops. According to that decision, all uses of products containing mancozeb (Manzate, Penncozeb, Dithane, Ridomil Gold MZ and Gavel) and metiram (Polyram) were to be cancelled with the exception of foliar applications to potatoes.

On August 15, the PMRA agreed with industry to restart the review process for mancozeb only. PMRA agreed that the consultation document did not meet transparency requirements under the Pest Control Products Act. The decision for metiram could not be reversed for legal reasons. As of June 2020, metiram (Polyram) cannot be used on any crop except potatoes and the label will reflect that change.

“This is the best outcome we could hope for given the circumstances,” says Charles Stevens, chair of the crop protection section, OFVGA. “PMRA has verbally communicated that all current final decisions and proposals regarding MRLs will be removed and a new pre-proposal for consultation for mancozeb will be posted in the next few weeks. At that point, the industry will have only 90 days to respond, so industry must get ready for these timelines. All current uses remain in place for these products until otherwise communicated.”

For background, go to: “PMRA plans to eliminate mancozeb and metiram fungicides” in the August 2018 issue of The Grower or go online to: http://thegrower.org/news/update-mancozeb-and-metiram