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Update on pesticide changes for Ontario retailers

March 4, 2011 –
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (OME) has brought
in new pesticide changes that will affect Ontario garden centres beginning on
April 22, 2011. Here is a statement from the OME regarding the new regulations.

March 4, 2011 –
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment (OME) has brought
in new pesticide changes that will affect Ontario garden centres beginning on
April 22, 2011. Here is a statement from the OME regarding the new regulations:

"On April 22, 2011, new
requirements for controlled sales pesticides (i.e., Class 7) will come into
effect. These include domestic products that can be used for a public
health and safety need, for example to control plants poisonous to the touch by
humans such as poison ivy or stinging or biting insects like wasps and
mosquitoes, but cannot be used for cosmetic purposes to control other weeds in
the lawn, garden, patio or driveway or other insects in your lawn or garden.

Class 7 products must be
displayed in a way that the public cannot access them (for example, behind the
counter or in locked cabinets). Consumers must obtain the product from a store
employee.

If the licensed vendor wishes,
empty containers that have never held Class 7 pesticides can be displayed so
that the consumer can access them for product label information.

Licensed vendors must continue
to provide a Class 7 Handout to consumers who purchase a Class 7 product to
make sure they are aware of the rules for using it and the requirements under
the cosmetic pesticides ban.

For more information or for a list
of Class 7 products and other Pesticide Classes, visit the Ministry of the
Environment web site at www.ontario.ca/pesticideban, or call
1-800-565-4923 or 416-325-4000.”

In advance of these changes,
pesticide companies like Doktor Doom have made changes to their products to
help garden centres comply with these new rules. “We’ve been proactive with
respect to this and have tried our best to educate the retailers about this. We
have gone through all the hoops with OPAC (Ontario Pesticide Advisory Council)
and Health Canada and created a very expansive line of Class 6 products for
retailers to make marketing easy and complying with the law easy,” says Grigg
Kellock of Doktor Doom.

As more information becomes available, Canadian Garden Centre &
Nursery magazine will keep you updated both online and in the magazine