Announcing Phase 2 of the SmartLabel Pilot Program

For Release: July 22, 2015

EPA is announcing the second phase of the SmartLabel Pilot, an initiative to develop an electronic system for pesticide labels. The SmartLabel system will allow pesticide manufacturers to develop and submit pesticide labels to EPA for review in an electronic format instead of as paper or PDF files.

SmartLabel will make the label review process more efficient by creating a standard template for the submission of pesticide label content to EPA, allowing for quicker reviews and easier comparisons to previous label versions. Additionally, SmartLabel will allow the agency to set up a searchable database of standardized label use data for all products, which can be used in support of risk assessments and registration decisions. EPA is working with 9 pesticide manufacturers who volunteered for the SmartLabel pilot in December 2014.

In this second phase, anyone interested may provide input on these two items that were developed based on the experience gained during the first phase of this initiative:
  • The electronic label system and the process for manufacturers to input pesticide label text by category (for example, Precautionary Statements, Directions for Use, etc.) that, when put together, make up the pesticide product label. Terms such as active ingredient, use site and pest will be used for searching and sorting pesticide labels. See the site at http://validator.pragmaticdata.com/validator-lite/validator/spl-form/test-form/  Exit and choose Template 'Pesticide Labeling.'
  • Updated documents, including a revised style sheet and User Guide with terminology lists. EPA revised these documents based on feedback from pilot participants.

EPA welcomes comment on these documents, as well as input on the system itself, through September 28, 2015. Comments may be submitted to smartlabel@epa.gov.

The SmartLabel system will result in a database that allows EPA and FDA to share and process information much more easily. These efforts support the EPA and the Food and Drug Administration Memorandum of Understanding that establishes policies and procedures to enhance the exchange of information between the agencies related to food safety pesticide data in an electronic format including pesticide labeling. (See docket EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0325 on www.regulations.gov.)