(OTTAWA) – The Growers Own Use (GROU) program took another step forward with the launch of the web site to facilitate recycling of product containers. CFA is supporting the site and the program for the time being, but is expressing strong dissatisfaction on several key points: the removal of products from the program, the cost of recycling, and lack of clarity around how the Own Use Imports (OUI) program will trigger.

“CFA is happy to participate in the system to ensure empty product containers brought into the country under GROU are recycled in a safe, responsible manner. We are not happy about the high fee the companies want to charge for container disposal,” said Bob Friesen, CFA President. “On top of the sudden removal of three products from the program list by the manufacturers last June it adds up to a deliberate effort to undermine the whole program. The industry needs price discipline, but the manufacturers are trying to find ways to keep price gouging.”

The GROU program was devised to allow farmers to bring into the country from the United States quantities of pest control products for their own use, if those products are found to be less expensive south of the border. This program was to complement the OUI program which permits farmers to import generic versions of products, provided the active ingredient was already approved for use in Canada.

In June, 2007, CFA denounced the sudden removal by the product manufacturers of three products from the list of eight products the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) had initially approved for access under GROU. Another part of the program agreed to by all participants requires farmers importing products to dispose of the empty containers through a centralized system. However the manufacturers have set their disposal fees at 15 cents per litre for containers that are less than 23L and 25 cents per litre for containers that are larger than 23 L. In some cases this will make the end cost of imported products more expensive than had the products been purchased in Canada, negating the intended benefit of the program. CFA is also concerned there is no clarity on implementing an automatic trigger mechanism that would activate the OUI program, allowing generic products in the US to be rated as equivalent to a name-brand domestic products for the purposes of importation.

Going forward CFA will be working to put pressure on the manufacturers and the PMRA to have more products added to the GROU list, to reduce container management fees, and to clarify the OUI trigger mechanism.

“The whole point of GROU is to help farmers cope with the skyrocketing cost of production by giving them access to lower cost inputs,” said Friesen. “If CFA does not get the changes it is looking for, and if the manufacturers don’t stop playing games, we have to question whether the program is accomplishing that goal, and we will have to review our support for the whole program.”

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Founded in 1935 to provide Canada's farmers with a single voice in Ottawa, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is the country's largest farmers' organization. Its members include provincial general farm organizations as well as national and inter-provincial commodity organizations from every province. Through its members, CFA represents over 200,000 Canadian farmers and farm families.