Agricultural Chemicals, or “Ag-Chem,” is a generic term for the various chemical products used in agriculture. In most cases, agrichemical refers to the broad range of pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides.
The health care professionals at SafetyCall have over 40 years of experience responding to issues related to agrichemical products. All adverse events are reported, documented and stored in SafetyNotes, our proprietary case management software application.
Regulatory Agencies and Applicable Federal Laws
Highlights – Rules & Regulations
Two important regulations applicable to the Ag-Chem Industry that are a focus of SafetyCall services are highlighted below:
FIFRA: Section 6(a)(2) of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires pesticide product registrants to submit adverse effects information about their products to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
PCPA: Pest Control Products Incident Reporting Regulations (SOR/2006-260) requires mandatory reporting of pesticide-related incidents to the Canadian Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA).
Your Industry Obligations
In addition to the mandatory reporting of domestic incidents involving pesticides within prescribed timelines, pesticide registrants must also consider the following compliance obligations:
Causality is not a prerequisite for tracking and reporting adverse events associated with the use of pesticides registered with either the EPA or PMRA. Even if a registrant does not believe there is sufficient scientific evidence to support an assertion that an alleged adverse event may have been caused by a pesticide, the registrant is still mandated to report such incidents to the EPA or PMRA.
- FIFRA: EPA-registered products with like formulations sold in other countries may require that foreign incidents involving these formulations also be reported to the EPA in compliance with FIFRA section 6(a)(2).
- PCPA: Incidents occurring in the United States involving EPA-registered products containing active ingredients that are also registered in Canada may require mandatory reporting to the PMRA depending on severity. Furthermore, for each active ingredient associated with 10 or more reportable incidents over a prescribed 12 month period, the registrant must provide an annual summary report identifying the total number of incidents reported and provide a concise critical analysis of the data.
