Mandatory Incident Reporting for Registrants and Applicants

In accordance with the Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations (IRR), pesticide registrants and applicants are required to report to the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) all incidents associated with their products. For details on the reporting requirements, such as the type of incidents that must be reported and the time frames for reporting them, please refer to the Regulations and related Guidance Document below.

To report an incident to the PMRA, please use the electronic Incident Reporting Form for Registrants and Applicants. The PMRA is also providing the XML Schema of its Incident Reporting Form for registrants who would prefer to render their Incident Reports from their proprietary systems. Please contact the Pesticide Incident Reporting Program to receive an electronic copy of the XML Schema.

Should you require further information please contact the Pest Management Information Service.

Notice on regulatory amendments and flexibility

On 1 January 2022, the regulations amending the IRR will come into force, which will create or change obligations for registrants and applicants. The amendments can be found at Canada Gazette, Part 2, Volume 153, Number 12: Regulations Amending the Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations.

Amendments to the IRR include:

• New and revised definitions
• Change in the categories of incidents
• Removal of degree of severity classification for most incidents
• Changes to reporting requirement timelines
• Amendment to the trigger for providing an annual summary
• Removal of reporting requirements for excessive residues in food

PMRA expects registrants and applicants to comply with the amendments. However, certain flexible measures are being exercised on an exceptional and transitionary basis, in order to allow the time needed to implement the necessary changes to the Incident Reporting Form to reflect the new regulatory requirements.

As of 1 January 2022, PMRA will assess and enforce the Pest Control Products Act and IRR in accordance with the new obligations, with consideration for the flexible measures outlined in this notice, until updates to the existing Incident Reporting Form are implemented by PMRA.

As part of PMRA's ongoing support to registrants and applicants, PMRA will maintain relevant guidance related to the provisions found in the amended IRR on the pesticides section of the Canada.ca website.

Flexible measures for assessment and enforcement

As of 1 January 2022, PMRA will exercise flexibility in assessing and enforcing compliance with reporting obligations related to the amended IRR.

The flexible measures are as follows:

• PMRA will permit registrants and applicants to use the existing Incident Reporting Form for mandatory reporting, until updates to the new form are implemented by PMRA.^{Footnote 1}
• Registrants and applicants can use the incident categories available on the existing Incident Reporting Form until the new form is implemented.

PMRA expects registrants and applicants to continue to complete and submit reports in the same manner as they have been doing under the IRR in force prior to the amendments.

Registrants and applicants are, however, expected to follow the new timelines to submit incident reports, as outlined in the amended IRR.

Assessment process for registrants and applicants

As of 1 January 2022, PMRA expects registrants and applicants to continue using the existing Incident Reporting Form, until updates are implemented. PMRA recognizes that this may be perceived as inconsistent with certain new obligations. As noted above, PMRA intends to use enforcement discretion during this period with respect to how incidents are reported, given that the incident categories and severity classification options available on the Incident Reporting Forms may differ from the amended IRR incident classifications.

Flexible measures timeline

The above listed measures are applicable until updates to the Incident Reporting Form are implemented by PMRA. The following form will be updated: Mandatory Incident Reporting Form for Registrants and Applicants.

PMRA will inform registrants and applicants when the updated Incident Reporting Form is implemented by PMRA and the flexible measures no longer apply.

Health Canada follows an established compliance and enforcement policy to promote and enhance fair treatment of the regulated community.

Should you require further information please contact the Pest Management Information Service.

Incident Reporting Form

The Incident Reporting Form for Registrants and Applicants can be downloaded from the pesticides section of the Canada.ca website.

Examples of completed incident report forms can be found in the Pesticide Product Information Database of the Public Registry.

User Guide - Version 2.0

The User Guide provides Registrants and Applicants with the required functional and technical information to complete the Incident Reporting Form and submit it to PMRA.

Guidance Document

The Guidance Document for the Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations should be read in conjunction with the Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations (IRR). In the event of any discrepancy between the guidance document and the regulations, the IRR prevail. It is not a stand-alone document and does not replace IRR requirements.

Guidance documents are intended to provide assistance to registrants and interested stakeholders on how to comply with governing statutes and regulations. Guidance documents also provide assistance to staff on how Health Canada mandates and objectives should be implemented in a manner that is fair, consistent and effective.

Guidance documents are administrative instruments that do not have the force of law and, as such, allow for flexibility in approach. Alternate approaches to the principles and practices described in this document may be acceptable provided they are supported by adequate scientific justification. Alternate approaches should be discussed in advance with the relevant program area to avoid the possible finding that applicable statutory or regulatory requirements have not been met.

To obtain an electronic copy of the Guidance Document for the Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations, please contact Pesticide Incident Reporting Program.

Additional Resources

• Voluntary Incident Report - Public Engagement Portal
• Pest control products (pesticides) acts and regulations
• Pesticides and pest management policies and guidelines