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EPA RELEASES TREATED ARTICLES POLICY FOR ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES

Release Date: 02/10/2000
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2000

EPA RELEASES TREATED ARTICLES POLICY
FOR ANTIMICROBIAL PESTICIDES


EPA recently released a Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice clarifying the Agency’s policy regarding the "treated articles exemption" to antimicrobial pesticides. A treated article is a product where the pesticide is protecting the product and not the consumer, such as a sponge with a built-in fungicide which reduces deterioration from the growth of mildew. In order to qualify for this exemption, (1) a product must be treated with a pesticide registered under the pesticide law, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), to protect the integrity of the product, and (2) the claims allowed for such treatment must be limited to protection of the treated article only. If these two conditions are met, the product would be exempt from all FIFRA requirements. The notice discusses EPA’s past and present guidance on how treated articles and substances qualify for the exemption, as well as the distinction between public health and non-public health antimicrobial claims. The notice also explains the requirement that the pesticide in a treated article be “registered for such use.” EPA will begin relying on this guidance for compliance purposes on February 11, 2001, as clarified by the notice. However, the Agency encourages producers, distributors, and any other person selling or distributing pesticide-treated articles and substances to bring products into full compliance with the regulation as soon as possible before that date. EPA solicited comments from the public in the Spring of 1998 on proposed guidance, and took comments into account when finalizing the notice. To access the PR Notice, see: https://www.epa.gov/opppmsd1/PR_Notices/. For general pesticide information, see: https://www.epa.gov/pesticides.


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