Canada announces re-evaluation project plan for herbicide flufenacet

The Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) has recently published the re-evaluation project plan for Flufenacet. Flufenacet is a herbicide registered for use in Eastern Canada only. It is registered for use on field corn and soybeans for control or suppression of annual grass and broadleaf weeds.

The re-evaluation project plan below outlines the timeline, the anticipated areas of focus for the risk assessments, and the data requirements for the re-evaluation of flufenacet.

Anticipated Re-evaluation Timeline

The re-evaluation of flufenacet is defined as a Category 1 as described in Regulatory Directive DIR2016-04, Management of Pesticides Re-evaluation Policy. However, because this re-evaluation was initiated prior to the publication of DIR2016-04, the proposed re-evaluation decision for flufenacet is anticipated to be published for consultation by December 2019. The re-evaluation timeline may be updated if, during the risk assessment, the PMRA identifies additional areas of focus that should be considered.

Human Health Risk Assessment

New assessments will be conducted for toxicology and dietary exposure. Existing assessments with minor updates are considered to be adequate to support the re-evaluation of flufenacet for the other aspects of human health assessment.

Environmental Risk Assessment

New assessments will be conducted for environmental fate, water modelling and environmental exposure.

Value

The value of flufenacet will be considered. The viability of alternatives will be examined for certain uses if risks of concern requiring mitigation are identified.

Data Requirements

The PMRA has identified the need for the technical registrant to provide data for flufenacet related to toxicology and environmental fate and exposure. Relevant data/studies have been requested and received from the technical registrant. A summary of the data call-in is found in the PMRA's Public Registry.

For a list of data categories that have been required, see Appendix I. In addition, information regarding the registered use pattern has been requested and received from the registrant, to inform the risk assessments.