Pest Control Products Act — P-9.01 19
Burden of persuasion and consideration of information 19 (1) During an evaluation that is done in the course of a re-evaluation or special review, (a) the Minister may, by delivering a notice in writing, require the registrant to provide, in the form and within the period specified in the notice, additional information that the Minister considers necessary for the evaluation; (b) the registrant has the burden of persuading the Minister that the health and environmental risks and the value of the pest control product are acceptable; and (c) the Minister shall consider the information provided by the registrant in support of the product and may consider any additional information, but the Minister shall give the registrant a reasonable opportunity to make representations in respect of the additional information before completing the evaluation. Scientific approach (2) In evaluating the health and environmental risks of a pest control product and in determining whether those risks are acceptable, the Minister shall (a) apply a scientifically based approach; and (b) in relation to health risks, (i) among other relevant factors, consider available information on aggregate exposure to the pest control product, namely dietary exposure and exposure from other non-occupational sources, including drinking water and use in and around homes and schools, and cumulative effects of the pest control product and other pest control products that have a common mechanism of toxicity, (ii) apply appropriate margins of safety to take into account, among other relevant factors, the use of animal experimentation data and the different sensitivities to pest control products of major identifiable subgroups, including pregnant women, infants, children, women and seniors, and (iii) in the case of a threshold effect, if the product is used in or around homes or schools, apply a margin of safety that is ten times greater than the margin of safety that would otherwise be applicable under subparagraph (ii) in respect of that threshold effect, to take into account potential pre- and post-natal toxicity and completeness of the data with respect to the exposure of, and toxicity to, infants and children, unless, on the basis of reliable scientific data, the Minister has determined that a different margin of safety would be appropriate. Government policy to be given effect in evaluation (3) In evaluating the health and environmental risks and the value of a pest control product, the Minister shall give effect to government policy. Comparative risk and value assessment (4) In determining whether the health and environmental risks and the value of a pest control product are acceptable, the Minister may, in accordance with the regulations, if any, take into account information regarding the risks and value of other pest control products that are registered for the same use. Representations (5) For the purposes of subsection (4), the Minister shall, before making the determination, give any registrant whose product is under re-evaluation or special review a reasonable opportunity to make representations in respect of the information referred to in that subsection.