Advocacy & Policy

Prince Edward Island: Submissions

Hon. Richard Brown
Minister, Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry
Jones Building, 4th Floor
11 Kent Street, P.O. Box 2000
Charlottetown, PE C1A 7N8

Dear Minister Brown,
On behalf of Retail Council of Canada (RCC) and its members operating on Prince Edward Island, I am writing in response to the announcement that P.E.I. plans to introduce new legislation that would ban the cosmetic use of pesticides on P.E.I., starting in 2010. We understand that the consultation process took place in 2007, and that a ban on the sale of cosmetic and lawn care pesticides will become a reality in P.E.I., as it has recently in New Brunswick.

Retailers, as sellers and importers of designated products and the touch point for both consumers and manufacturers, have a significant stake in the development of the proposed new rules. RCC and its members are committed to the health and safety of Islanders. Our intent in providing this correspondence to you at this time is not to refute the proposed ban, but rather to provide comments and suggestions for the implementation of the ban in a way that allows for safe, thoughtful transition to the new rules and regulations.

Definitions
The legislation needs to provide clear and understandable definitions for the following terms in order to ensure affected retailers are able to comply:

• Rural centre
• Urban centre
• Pesticide
• Herbicide
• Fungicide
• Commercial use
• Domestic use
• Natural products

Education and Consumer Awareness
To ensure compliance with the proposed legislation retailers must clearly understand their obligations under any new laws affecting the sale of merchandise; and consumers must also be educated and influenced to change their purchasing behaviour.

RCC and its members would be pleased to work with P.E.I.'s Department of Environment, Energy and Forestry on the development of voluntary guidelines that are clear and understandable to assist affected retailers in complying with the legislation.

RCC understands that part of the intent of proposing such legislation is not just for the protection of the health and safety of Islanders but to also support innovative green alternatives to pesticides. As the touch point for both consumers and manufacturers, retailers are the vital link in the supply chain and are strategically well positioned to assist in educating and increasing awareness among consumers.

The government may wish to develop a consumer incentive program to help change consumer behaviour by driving them to consider green alternatives. For example, the ENERGY STAR symbol has proven to be an effective mechanism to help consumers identify energy efficient products while providing consumers with rebates on the purchase price of qualified appliances and equipment. As consumer rebate programs have implications on a retailers' point-of-sale system, RCC would recommend working with the government to discuss the potential to develop such a program, how retailers could help promote it and how it would best be incorporated into both small and large retailers' Point of Sale systems.

Educating consumers must be a fundamental component to the development of the proposed legislation. Developing an integrated (government/retail) consumer awareness and education program will be the most effective way of educating consumers and encouraging them to change their behaviour.

Harmonization
Harmonization is a fundamental concern for the retail sector. The need for legislation and regulation to encourage harmonization with federal, provincial and territorial and municipal laws cannot be overstated. Approaches to pesticide use across Canada are far from consistent and increasingly place national retailers in the position of having to comply with a patchwork of requirements across the country; not to mention the confusion it creates for consumers across different provincial and municipal jurisdictions. Implementing different laws in every province is costly and administratively burdensome for retailers and is confusing for consumers; and as such, harmonization must be entrenched as a foundation of the proposed legislation.

Timing
It is imperative that retailers be provided with a phased-in implementation period of at least two-to-three years in order to ensure the responsible removal of affected products from P.E.I. store shelves. Over 85 per cent of RCC members are small independent retailers and given their size, their buying cycles are greatly different than larger retailers. Most retailers have already completed their buying cycles and made their purchases for next spring and summer (in some cases they have already purchased for fall 2010).

Small businesses are the life blood of P.E.I.'s economy. Independent retailers do not have the financial or human resources to comply with difficult and onerous legislation and regulations. It is simply inefficient and impractical to enforce an aggressive timeline for the proposed ban. In order to ensure that banned products are effectively and soundly removed from P.E.I. stores, retailers need to be provided with a phased-in timeline to accommodate varying buying cycles.

If not enough time is provided, there is a risk that substantial amounts of banned product would be pulled off the shelf in a short period of time, which is a situation that must be avoided to ensure that such a large quantity of products would not be disposed of inappropriately.

Again, RCC recommends that the government provide retailers with a phased-in implementation period of at least two-to-three years.

Conclusion
The health and safety of consumers is of the utmost concern for retailers. From our members perspective, the top priority is to be assured the products that they sell are safe.

Thank you for your consideration of our recommendations regarding implementation of a cosmetic pesticides ban. We look forward to actively working with the P.E.I. government and other stakeholders to develop balanced legislation that will protect the health and safety of Islanders. If you require any further information or clarification, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at (902) 406-4350 or atlantic@retailcouncil.org.