EPA Seeks Comment on Insecticide-Treated Seed Exemptions

(WASHINGTON, DC) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking public comment on a petition from the Center for Food Safety (CFS) requesting that EPA either initiate a rulemaking or issue a formal Agency interpretation for planted seeds treated with systemic insecticides. The position taken in the petition is that the Agency has improperly applied the treated article exemption in exempting treated seed from additional registration and labeling requirements under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). If EPA were to side with the petitioners, it could create a substantial burden for farmers and seed treaters without a corresponding benefit to the environment, according to the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). Applying the treated article exemption to treated seed is a longstanding approach by EPA to prevent duplicative regulation.