The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has announced that it is effectively scrapping many of the regulations that cover labeling of efficacy of domestic and agricultural fertilizers. Brandowners of fertilizer products, especially household products, will be aware of the hassle that has in the past been associated with registering a fertilizer for household use, particularly if the fertilizer has fallen into the category of innovative or green fertilizer product such as chicken feather meal. The move by CFIA should mean that many more innovative fertilizer products are likely to come on to the Canadian retail market. It will also mean that users of fertilizers need to become more informed about fertilizer efficacy because less information may be on the label of the various products on store shelves.

Despite the welcome move by CFIA, brandowners should exercise a little caution:

• make sure that the change in regulations does cover your product.
• ensure that your product meets the product safety aspects of the fertilizer regulations which are still being enforced.
• ensure that your product is properly labeled because both CFIA and the Competition Bureau may still monitor products for improper or misleading labeling.

Details of the recent amendments to the Fertilizer Regulations can be found at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/fertilizers/program-overview/industry-notice-20130508/eng/1368038061279/1368038098924

An insurance industry association, the Geneva Association, which describes itself as “the leading international think tank of the insurance industry” has published a report on ocean warming and its implications for the insurance industry.

The report finds that there is robust evidence that the global oceans have been warming over recent decades. Whilst many think of the atmosphere when thinking of the effects of climate change it is the oceans that are the key driver of global extreme events.

The report identifies three main drivers of change in loss potentials:

• Greater volumes of water, greater risks. Not only do rising sea-levels increase the risk of flooding or the potential impact of storm surges, but they also decrease the protective lifespan of coastal infrastructure.
• Drier dry and wetter wet. A warmer ocean also means more water in the atmosphere. A warmer atmosphere contains more water and therefore more energy. This has the potential to increase the intensity of extreme events and associated precipitation.
• Effects on large-scale climate phenomena are likely but currently unknown. Due to the long timescales of ocean dynamics and the relatively short length of observational data, the effects of changes on catastrophic risk are currently unclear.

In addition to more comprehensive means of assessing risk, the report urges governments and the private sector to increase the resilience of communities by managing risks through a series of means, in particular building resilient infrastructure.

The 22 page report as well as a fact sheet and a press release are available at https://www.genevaassociation.org/research/topics-sub-pages/climate-risk-subpage/ocean-warming