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Part of Part two – Selling and buying pesticides

Selling and buying pesticides – Commercial vendor requirements

Anyone involved in retail sales of restricted and commercial pesticides in Alberta is subject to regulatory requirements.

Overview

Commercial vendor regulatory requirements apply to the retail sale of pesticides classified in Alberta as Schedule 1 and 2. The requirements do not apply to federally classified domestic pesticides (Schedule 3 and 4).

For information on legislation covering pesticide sales and classes of pesticides see:

Retail sales requirements

Any retail vendor selling Schedule 1 and 2 pesticides must hold one of the following at each vendor outlet location:

  • pesticide retail vendor registration
  • valid Agrichemical Warehouse Standards Association (AWSA) certificate of competence

The outlet must also:

  • employ at least 1 person holding a commercial pesticide dispenser (or applicator) certificate
  • ensure a dispenser or dispenser assistant is working whenever the outlet is open, including these provisions:
    • Vendor registration will be immediately suspended if a certified dispenser or applicator is not employed at the outlet. The registration will be automatically reinstated once an outlet has the required staff.

Note: Provisions for training pesticide dispenser assistants are in the Environmental Code of Practice for Pesticides. They ensure that appropriate sales and storage requirements are met when certified dispensers are not on site. See the code at:

Vendor’s responsibilities

The holder of a pesticide retail vendor registration or AWSA certificate of competence is responsible for ensuring that:

  • pesticides are stored in accordance with provincial regulations or the AWSA storage requirements
  • pesticide emergencies are reported to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas and releases are cleaned up properly.
  • pesticides are only sold to authorized persons
  • records of pesticide sales are maintained

For further information, see:

Pesticide services

In some situations, the retail outlet sells pesticides and also provides a pesticide application service. In this case, the operation must hold both a pesticide vendor registration and service registration. It must also:

  • employ a certified pesticide applicator, or
  • hire a third-party contractor who holds a valid service registration and employs the appropriate class of certified applicators

Sales of Schedule 4 pesticides

Retail sales of pesticides classified in Alberta as Schedule 4 are exempt from the above requirements. The registered product listing identifies all Schedule 4 pesticides.

If a certification statement is present on a product label, it is classified as a Schedule 2 pesticide. A Vendor registration would then be required for sales of that product.

Rules for wholesale vendors

Pesticide vendors selling Schedule 1 and 2 pesticides at wholesale to another wholesale or retail vendor must hold a wholesale vendor registration.

Further information can viewed at:

Storage requirements for vendors

To reduce the risk of pesticides contaminating the environment, vendors must store Schedule 1 and 2 pesticides according to regulations.

The Pesticide Storage: Regulatory Requirements and Guidelines (Schedule 1 and 2) summarizes the regulatory requirements and operational guidelines for storage of pesticides.

Details of the pesticide storage regulations are included in the Pesticide Sales, Handling, Use and Application Regulation, found here:

AWSA has its own industry storage requirements. Most major suppliers of commercial herbicides, insecticides and fungicides will be subject to these requirements. They can be found here:

Responding to emergencies

Retail and wholesale pesticide vendors must respond in an appropriate manner to pesticide-related emergencies. They must ensure that:

  • anyone responsible for the storage or display areas is knowledgeable about spill clean-up and fire response procedures
  • emergency response equipment is available where pesticides are sold, stored or displayed
  • safety data sheets are accessible along with emergency telephone numbers and copies of labels for each pesticide in storage
  • pesticide spills resulting in a release beyond the outlet (including odours) are reported to the Alberta government as soon as possible after the release occurs.

For more information on chemical release reporting requirements, see:

Vendor sales requirements

Retail vendors

Retail pesticide vendors must also ensure that pesticides are sold only to qualified users. A retail vendor may only sell restricted and commercial class pesticides (Schedule 1 and 2) to:

  • the holder of a valid pesticide service registration
  • a certified pesticide applicator
  • a commercial agriculturalist (farmer) who applies pesticides on his own land (or land he rents or leases)
  • a rural acreage owner or a hobby greenhouse operator provided:
    • the pesticide and purpose are listed in Section 17 of the Environmental Code of Practice for Pesticides

More information on sales to rural acreage owners and hobby greenhouse operators can be found at:

More information on pesticides that can be sold can be found at:

Wholesale vendors

A wholesale vendor can only sell Schedule 1 and 2 pesticides to holders of:

  • wholesale pesticide vendor registration
  • retail pesticide vendor registration
  • AWSA certificate

Record-keeping requirements

Retail vendors

Retail vendors must record every sale of a Schedule 1 or 2 pesticide. They must retain these records for 5 years. Each record must include:

  • name and mailing address of the purchaser
  • product name (including the pest control products registration number) and quantity sold
  • date of sale
  • purchaser’s service registration number and expiry date or applicator certificate number and expiry date
  • the purchaser’s legal land location and other confirmation that the individual is a bona fide farmer if the purchaser is a commercial agriculturalist or acreage owner

When the label requires everyone to be certified, vendors must also include the following in their record:

  • commercial agriculturalists must provide their farmer pesticide certificate number and expiry date
  • acreage owners must provide their rural acreage owner certificate and expiry date

Wholesale vendors

Wholesale vendors must record every Schedule 1 or 2 pesticide sale. They must hold these records for 5 years and submit summaries to the Alberta government on request. Each record must include:

  • name and address of purchaser
  • the purchaser’s wholesale pesticide vendor registration number and expiry date
  • retail purchaser’s pesticide vendor registration and expiry date or AWSA certificate
  • name of commercial dispenser, his/her certification number and expiry date at retail vendor outlet
  • product name (including the pest control products registration number) and quantity of pesticide(s) sold
  • date of sale

Contact

Connect with Outreach Services:

Alberta Environment and Protected Areas
9th Floor, South Petroleum Plaza 9920 108 Street
Edmonton Alberta T5K 2G8

Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Toll free: 310-3773 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Outside Alberta: 780-944-0313
Toll free: 1-877-944-0313
Email: [email protected]

Connect with the Alberta government to report a pesticide spill:

Phone: 1-800-222-6514

Connect with Lakeland College for questions about pesticide applicator or dispenser certification:

Phone: 1-866-853-8646
Email: [email protected]