Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
We appreciate the opportunity to give you an update on the situation facing honeybee colonies in Canada, on what action Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency has taken to address the issues related to bee losses experienced in the spring of 2012, and what we see happening in other jurisdictions.
Health Canada is responsible for administering the Pest Control Products Act. The act requires that pesticides that are registered for use in Canada do not pose unacceptable risks to health and to the environment. Pollinator health is critical both to agriculture and our natural environment and we take this issue seriously.
I would like to begin by emphasizing that honeybee loss is a very complex matter, and no single cause has yet been identified. The bee losses reported to Health Canada between April and June of last year are just one aspect to consider when looking at the larger issue of long-term pollinator health. The latest science and emerging research on honeybee health suggests that pesticide exposure is but one of several factors linked to declines of honeybee populations, and I will say a few short words on this later on.
First, I would like to provide you with a summary of what happened last year. Between April and June of 2012, Health Canada received a number of incident reports of bee losses from across southern Ontario, involving 40 beekeepers and over 200 bee yards, as well as one report from Quebec involving eight bee yards. The timing and location of these incidents coincided with planting in major corn-producing regions of those provinces. Consequently, samples of affected bees were taken at a number of locations where bee losses were reported and analyzed for pesticide residues by our laboratory services or by the ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation du Québec.
The analysis showed residues of nitroguanidine neonicotinoid insecticides used to treat corn seed present in approximately 70% of the dead bee samples. Insecticides used to treat corn seeds are believed to be a significant contributing factor in many of the 2012 bee losses.
The route of exposure is believed to be through dust containing insecticide residues that was generated during the planting of the treated corn seed. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been used for the last decade and significant bee losses were not reported to us until last spring. So what changed last year to create this situation?
One important difference last year appears to be the weather. Last year Ontario and Quebec experienced a very early spring that was hotter and drier than usual. These conditions likely resulted in greater dust generations during corn planting, and consequently, bee colonies being exposed to higher than anticipated levels of pesticides during the 2012 corn planting season.
Because of these incidents, we have implemented a number of measures to reduce pollinator exposure to neonicotinoid insecticides for the 2013 growing season. I will go through each of these briefly.
First, best management practices have been collaboratively developed with international regulatory agencies, growers, beekeepers, equipment manufacturers, and the pesticide industry. These best practices provide a tool box of options to help reduce risks to pollinators. Updated guidance to growers has been published on our website, and a proactive outreach campaign has been completed in Ontario and Quebec.
Second, registrants of neonicotinoids used to treat corn seed will be reporting annually to Health Canada in compliance with a technical standard for dust on treated corn seed, which will be consistent with both the U.S. and European standards.
Third, information will be included on seed tags for treated corn to alert growers and applicators of the potential risk to bees, and to provide information regarding best management practices to be employed during the planting of such seed. Specific wording changes have also been made to pest control product labels, currently affecting seven products.
Finally, we are working with the pesticide and seed treatment industries to develop engineering controls that will further reduce exposure, things like better seed coatings, low-dust seed lubricants, and improvements to planting equipment. In June 2012, Health Canada also announced the re-evaluation of neonicotinoid insecticides, which will consider all available scientific information on the potential impact on bees and bee populations.
This re-evaluation may take several years to complete, however, I would like to emphasize that additional regulatory restrictions will be implemented as required, and may occur prior to the completion of the re-evaluation, if warranted by a scientific determination of risk.
On the broader issue of pollinator health, Health Canada has been working with colleagues in the U.S. and Europe to understand what role pesticides may be playing in declining honeybee populations.
So far, scientists who have been investigating the loss of honeybees have suggested there may be a number of factors involved, such as the presence of honeybee pests, limited genetic diversity, diseases, harsh winter conditions, poor nutritional status, exposure to pesticides, and stress. While Canadian honeybee producers have experienced losses in recent years, the phenomenon referred to as colony collapse disorder in other parts of the world has not been observed by apiculturists in Canada.
One of the leading causes of Canadian honeybee losses appears to be associated with pests and diseases. The most significant of these in Canada are the varroa mite, tracheal mite, American foulbrood, and nosema. Over the last few years Health Canada has registered three new in-hive treatments to help combat these pests, and we continue to work with the beekeepers and professional associations to better understand the challenges facing this industry.
On the global front, Health Canada is actively participating in efforts to understand the role that pesticides may play in affecting bee health. Health Canada and the U.S. EPA currently co-chair the OECD working group on pesticide effects on insect pollinators. This OECD group is responsible for communicating pollinator incidents and improving data requirements and guidance used in risk assessments, as well as identifying new ways to reduce pesticide effects.
We are also participating in the International Commission for Pollinator-Plant Relationships to further investigate specific effects of pesticides on bees and other important pollinators. Finally, we collaborated with the U.S. on a recent update to a joint Canada-U.S. risk assessment framework for evaluating the risks that pesticides may pose to pollinators.
We acknowledge the importance of pollinator health to both agriculture and the natural environment. We continue to work closely with leading scientists around the world to protect both honeybees and wild pollinator populations. We are closely monitoring the situation and will take measured action when warranted.
In closing, I would like to thank you, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee, for providing this opportunity to speak to you today about this important matter.