Changes to the registration of clothianidin pesticides
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Organization: Health Canada
Date published: November 2023
ISBN: 978-0-660-67660-9
All pesticides used in Canada must be registered under the Pest Control Products Act. Pesticides are re-evaluated to ensure that they continue to meet health and environmental standards. Re-evaluation may result in the revocation of a product or product uses. Health Canada may also request changes to a product's label, including risk mitigation measures, use sites and application methods.
Clothianidine is a neonicotinoid insecticide used on various crops, and for seed treatment. Highlights of the re-evaluation and of the special review decisions of the active ingredient clothianidin, published respectively on April 11, 2019, and on March 31, 2021, are summarized below.
Label changes for clothianidin pesticides
Cancelled uses,
As of April 11, 2021
Stop the following uses:
- Foliar application on orchards
- Except for the control of brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) on pome fruit and stone fruit
- Foliar application on strawberries
- Foliar application on residential, municipal and industrial lawns
As of March 31, 2023
Stop the following uses:
- In-furrow application for potatoes
- Seed treatment of leafy vegetables
- Seed treatment of onions in greenhouses, for onion maggot and seedcorn maggot
- Field corn seed treatment, for corn rootworm
- Foliar application on cucurbits, for brown marmorated stink bug
- Foliar application to turf, for hairy chinch bug, annual bluegrass weevil, bluegrass billbug and European crane fly
End of use delayed to March 31, 2025, for the field application of seed treatment on bunching onions.
Other risk reduction measures
As of April 11, 2021
- Limit of one foliar application per season on cucurbits
- Addition of bee protection statements to cereal seed treatment labels
As of March 31, 2023
- Single foliar application per season on:
- Cucurbits
- Potatoes
- Sod farms
- Reduction of allowed planting density, to meet the maximum application rate per hectare for:
- Broccoli
- Onions (bulbs)
- Carrots
- Cabbages
- Cucumbers
- Leeks
- Single application rate for field corn seed treatment
- Addition of statements regarding the toxicity of clothianidin for aquatic organisms
- Updated buffer zones
- Recommendation of a vegetative filter strip
Users should follow the instructions of the updated labels.
It is a violation of the Pest Control Products Act to use a product in a manner inconsistent with the label directions.
Read the label
All pesticides registered in Canada have a Health Canada-approved label with a registration number. It is important to read a pesticide label carefully, as it contains specific information on how to use it. To find the most current label, use our online label search tool, or search for "Health Canada pesticide labels" using your favourite search engine.
For more information
Special Review Decision SRD2021-03, Special review decision regarding the risks of clothianidin to aquatic invertebrates.
Re-evaluation Decision RVD2019-05, Clothianidin and its associated end-use products: re-evaluation focusing on pollinators.
The Health Canada-approved label is the official document for enforcement purposes. In the event of any discrepancy with the contents of this factsheet, the information on the label shall prevail.
Health Canada's Pesticide Compliance Program (PCP) is responsible for the enforcement of the Pest Control Products Act.