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 ...

Brazilian orange juice exporters have called on the Ministry of Agriculture to request the US authorities to agree a phase-out of use of carbendazim on oranges destined for export to the country. Orange growers in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo are already switching fungicide applications away from carbendazim, Brazilian newspaper Globo reports. President of the Ministry-linked chamber of citrus crops, Marco Antônio dos Santos, says that a trend is already under way in which growers are ...

The US EPA has established a tolerance exemption for the biofungicide, Trichoderma virens strain G-41, for all food commodities. The Agency proposed the approval of two products from biopesticide company BioWorks (Victor, New York) based on T virens strain G41 in December (Agrow No 631, p 21).

The year began with an executive order from US President Barack Obama calling for a review of regulation by the EPA and other agencies. Top of the industry’s wish-list for regulatory reforms were an improved consultation process between agencies on pesticide risks to endangered species and new legislation to avoid the need for permits to apply pesticides over water. While some progress was made, the industry wish-list remained just that as the year drew to a close. The President’s order ...

When the organisers of the CropLife America (CLA)/RISE spring conference drew up the agenda, the title of the session on the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issue must have looked highly topical. With the Sixth Circuit Court’s April 9th deadline looming for the EPA to draw up a general NPDES permit, “Clean Water and NPDES – What happens tomorrow?” was a great title. In the event, the EPA had gained a six-month extension and the only deadline in most minds in ...

The convergence of regulatory issues facing the US agrochemical sector was described by more than one industry representative as a potential “train wreck” at the CropLife America (CLA)/RISE spring conference in Washington this month. Court-imposed requirements for pesticide application permits under the Clean Water Act and endangered species assessments by the EPA in consultation with the wildlife agencies are just two of the major issues facing the industry. Forthcoming new rules on spray ...