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T-4- 102 - Requirements for fertilizer-pesticides under the Fertilizers Act

1. Purpose

A fertilizer-pesticide means a fertilizer that is or contains a pesticide.

A pesticide means a pest control product as defined in the Pest Control Products Act.

The purpose of this document is to outline regulatory requirements for fertilizer-pesticides under the Fertilizers Act and regulations which are administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

2. Standards

General safety standards applicable to all fertilizers and supplements sold and imported into Canada are described in trade memorandum T-4-93. In addition, a fertilizer-pesticide shall not be or contain a pesticide that does not comply with the requirements of the Pest Control Products Act (PCPA) in respect of the approved use and the application rate for that pesticide.

3. Registration requirements

3.1 Fertilizer-pesticides

A fertilizer-pesticide may require registration under the Fertilizers Act prior to importation or sale depending on the category (end use) of the combination product (customer-formula = exempt vs. commercial packaged product = registerable).

Every application for registration of a fertilizer-pesticide under the Fertilizers Act shall be accompanied by:

  1. Information establishing that the fertilizer-pesticide complies with the provisions of the Pest Control Products Act and its regulations with respect to human, animal or plant health and the environment; and
  2. Any decision the Minister of Health has issued under the Pest Control Products Act with respect to any components that are pesticides

An application for registration of a fertilizer-pesticide will be refused if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the pesticide component does not comply with the requirements of the Pest Control Products Act. Similarly, the President of the Agency may cancel the registration of any fertilizer or supplement if he or she believes that the provisions of the Pest Control Products Act or its regulations have been contravened.

4. Labelling

4.1 Fertilizer-pesticides

General labelling requirements for fertilizers and supplements under the Fertilizers Act and regulations which are also applicable to fertilizer-pesticides are described in Trade Memorandum T-4-130 – Labeling requirements for fertilizers and supplements. In addition to these requirements fertilizer-pesticide labels must contain:

4.2 Customer-formula fertilizers containing pesticides

A package containing a customer formula fertilizer that has intentionally incorporated in it, or is represented to contain a pesticide shall also be labelled with:

5. Compendium of fertilizer-use pesticides

Registrations of fertilizer-pesticide combination products intended for use on lawn and turf were cancelled in January, 2011. The only home and garden fertilizer-pesticides still permissible for use and sale in Canada are products that have only a single active ingredient with both fertilizer and pesticidal properties such as corn gluten meal and ferrous sulphate. These pesticides must still be registered or approved under the PCPA before they can be registered under the Fertilizers Act. Agricultural use fertilizer-pesticide combinations are still permitted. Due to its limited utility, the Compendium of Fertilizer-Use Pesticides (CFUP) was repealed as part of the amendments made to the Fertilizers Regulations, October 26th, 2020.

6. Contact information

Fertilizer Safety Section
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Phone: 1-855-212-7695
Email: cfia.paso-bpdpm.acia@inspection.gc.ca

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