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Pesticide News Story: Voluntary Cancellation of Carbofuran Uses
For Release: March 18, 2009
EPA has granted the request from FMC Corporation to cancel certain uses of and products containing flowable and granular carbofuran effective March 18, 2009. All federally registered uses for carbofuran are being canceled except for field corn, sunflowers, potatoes, pumpkins, pine seedlings, and spinach grown for seed. The artichoke use will be canceled after a two-year phase out period. Certain additional uses of carbofuran that had been requested by specific states under a "special local needs" provision of Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) are also being canceled. Existing stocks of the canceled products may be used until they are depleted, or until the effective date for revocation of the associated tolerances. EPA is confident we can establish the appropriate procedures so growers have an orderly and workable process to transition to safer and effective pesticides.
EPA's reregistration eligibility decision (RED) for carbofuran, completed in 2006, concluded that no carbofuran uses met the statutory standard and that therefore no uses were eligible for reregistration. The Agency has found that there are considerable risks to children associated with carbofuran in food and drinking water. EPA has also identified risks to pesticide applicators and to birds in treated fields. EPA further determined that none of the available regulatory alternatives to cancellation of all registered uses could reduce the potential risks to acceptable levels. To first address dietary and drinking water risks, the Agency published a proposed rule to revoke all carbofuran tolerances in July 2008 (tolerances are legally allowed, safe levels of pesticide residues in food). In response to this EPA's proposal, the FMC Corporation voluntarily requested to cancel 22 carbofuran uses.
Under FIFRA, registrants may request, at any time, that their pesticide registrations be canceled or amended to terminate one or more pesticide uses. Before acting on a request for voluntary cancellation or use termination, EPA must provide a public comment period. The comment period for the voluntary cancellations of carbofuran ended January 20, 2009. There were no significant comments and the registrant did not withdraw the request. Through today's action, EPA will cancel the 22 uses as voluntarily requested by the registrant. The remaining food uses (corn, potatoes, sunflowers and pumpkins) are being evaluated as part of the process for issuing a final rule with regard to the proposed tolerance revocations the Agency published in July 2008.
For more information on carbofuran, visit https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/reregistration/carbofuran/. To view the public comments on carbofuran, go to the carbofuran docket.