The petition raises concerns about the 2017 re-evaluation of the herbicide glyphosate (registered for use in Canada since 1976) by Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency in cooperation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency. According to the petition, publicly released documents from the 2016 California case of Dewayne Johnson v. Monsanto Company show that the Monsanto Company, which manufactures products containing glyphosate (including the widely used herbicide Roundup), improperly influenced the US agency’s evaluation of glyphosate.
The Pest Management Regulatory Agency re-evaluates pesticides that are currently on the market on a 15-year cycle to ensure that products meet current scientific standards. The petition claims that the agency’s 2010 Re-evaluation Work Plan for Glyphosate shows that the agency substantially relied on the US agency’s data. The petition suggests that this work plan for re-evaluating glyphosate may thus have been improperly influenced by the Monsanto Company’s actions in the United States.
The petition asks whether Canada’s Minister of Health will provide a report that documents the dates, times, participants, and subject matter of meetings and exchanges between the 2 agencies as part of the re-evaluation of glyphosate. The petition asks whether an explanation will be offered if the Minister will not provide the requested report. The petition also asks whether the Minister will provide a report on the policy and financial implications of the agencies’ collaboration on regulating pesticides since the mid-1970s.