Argentina has updated rules for pesticide active ingredient and product registrants. The national animal and plant health inspection service, the Senasa, issued a resolution in November, detailing rules that had not been anticipated in earlier legislation. Data requirements on the origin of ais and formulated products are growing, the Senasa says. For example, the need for those applying to register products formulated in more than one plant was not foreseen. Resolution 822/2011 sets the ...

The latest version of proposals to allow national bans on the cultivation of EU-approved genetically modified crops suggests that deals could be reached with companies to exclude countries from their marketing plans. A compromise proposal, drawn up by the Danish EU Presidency, also seeks to broaden the range of environmental reasons that member states could invoke for restricting GM crop cultivation. The Danish officials are seeking to break the stalemate on the issue that has persisted since ...

Denmark is considering the introduction of a new pesticide tax on farmers to “encourage” them to use fewer and less harmful pesticides. The Ministry of Environment has prepared the proposal with the intention of cutting applications by a third. The “intelligent” tax would make the most harmful pesticides the most expensive, and the least harmful ones the cheapest. Some insecticides could increase in cost from DKK 60 ($10) per ha to DKK 400 ($70) per ha, while other “environmentally friendly” ...

The US and Canadian pesticide regulatory authorities aim to encourage the joint submission of use expansions to the two countries with a view to fully aligning labels with minor-crop uses. The proposal is included in a draft work plan drawn up by the US-Canada Regulatory Cooperation Council. The Council was formed last year to increase regulatory transparency and co-ordination between the two countries. It aims to build on the work conducted by the NAFTA Technical Working Group over the past 20 ...

Bayer CropScience has received US approval for a new cereal herbicide based on established active ingredients. Huskie Complete (pyrasulfotole + thiencarbazone-methyl + bromoxynil + mefenpyr-diethyl safener) is for the post-emergence control of a range of grasses and broadleaf weeds in spring, winter and durum wheat. It is the first use of thiencarbazone-methyl in a small-grain cereal herbicide, the company points out. The company indicated last year that it was planning to combine the maize ...

Argentina has updated rules for pesticide active ingredient and product registrants. The national animal and plant health inspection service, the Senasa, issued a resolution in November, detailing rules that had not been anticipated in earlier legislation. Data requirements on the origin of ais and formulated products are growing, the Senasa says. For example, the need for those applying to register products formulated in more than one plant was not foreseen. Resolution 822/2011 sets the ...

Peru has ordered the withdrawal of three pesticide active ingredients within three months and lifted the suspension of all registrations of products based on another two. The Ministry of Agriculture’s plant and animal health service, the Senasa, has confirmed the bans of the insecticides, aldicarb and endosulfan, and ordered the removal of all insecticides/plant growth regulators based on lead arsenate. Resolution 0013/2012 grants registrants of the three ais 90 days from February 1st to ...

Chinese agrochemical production throughout 2011 increased by 21.5% to 2.6 million tonnes, reports the Chinese commercial information newswire, askci.com. Herbicides were the largest category, with production amounting to 1.2 million tonnes and accounting for 44.4% of the total. Insecticides made up 26.8% at 709,000 tonnes, while fungicides accounted for 5.7% with 150,000 tonnes. Jiangsu province manufactured more agrochemicals than any other region, where production amounted to 758,000 tonnes, ...

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has extended its suspension of short-chain ester forms of the phenoxy herbicide, 2,4-D, until January 31st 2013. Under the suspension, applications can only be made between May 1st and August 31st, with specified restrictions. Limits were first placed on ethyl, butyl and isobutyl esters of 2,4-D in 2006 because of concerns over spray drift (Agrow No 506, p 16). The APVMA began a review of the risks posed by 2,4-D spray drift ...

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has extended its suspension of short-chain ester forms of the phenoxy herbicide, 2,4-D, until January 31st 2013. Under the suspension, applications can only be made between May 1st and August 31st, with specified restrictions. Limits were first placed on ethyl, butyl and isobutyl esters of 2,4-D in 2006 because of concerns over spray drift (Agrow No 506, p 16). The APVMA began a review of the risks posed by 2,4-D spray drift ...

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has recommended the approval of food products derived from BASF’s genetically modified imidazolinone herbicide-tolerant CV127 soybeans. The soybeans were developed in collaboration with the Brazilian agricultural research corporation, the Embrapa, and are due to be introduced in Brazil in the 2013/14 season under the Cultivance brand (Agrow No 627, p 18). FSANZ began assessing the application in September 2011 (Agrow No 624, p 17). Its decision is ...

The African Union Commission and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation have agreed a memorandum of understanding to develop and deliver agricultural technology to African farmers. The continent has one of the lowest levels of farm productivity in the world as a result of the absence of agricultural technologies to deal with pests and diseases that face the region’s smallholder farmers, the partners say. The Foundation works in eight sub-Sahara African countries. Priority areas for the ...

The Nigerian consumer protection council has stated that food derived from genetically modified plants is safe for consumption, reports Nigerian newswire Daily Trust. The director general of the council, Ify Umeyi, has reportedly said that the foods had not been found to have caused any allergic condition. She has stated that most policy makers in Africa are sceptical of GM foods because they are confronted with contradictory reports about their safety. The Minister of Agricultural and Rural ...

Researchers have reported successful field trials of genetically modified virus-resistant potatoes in Argentina. They are resistant to potato virus Y, transmitted by insects, Argentine biotechnology association Argenbio reports. Researchers led by Ministry of Science and Technology’s national scientific counsel, the Conicet, scientist Dr Fernando Bravo produced two GM lines and field tested around 2,000 plants across Argentina over a six-year period. They found no virus present in the GM ...

The African Union Commission and the African Agricultural Technology Foundation have agreed a memorandum of understanding to develop and deliver agricultural technology to African farmers. The continent has one of the lowest levels of farm productivity in the world as a result of the absence of agricultural technologies to deal with pests and diseases that face the region’s smallholder farmers, the partners say. The Foundation works in eight sub-Sahara African countries. Priority areas for the ...