EPA Publishes Consent Decree Regarding Treated Seed

Earlier this month, EPA published a consent decree regarding the Center for Food Safety’s (CFS) petition on treated seed, which dates back to 2017. EPAs notice does not address the merits of CFS’s petition, but sets September 30, 2022 as the deadline by which the agency will respond to it. In 2018, ASTA submitted comments in partnership with CropLife America and a number of other grower organizations that detailed, among other things, the lack of basis for the claim that additional regulatory hurdles are necessary for treated seed. ASTA’s comments, which can be read in full here, explain that efforts to require separate and/or additional registrations for seeds treated with crop protection products would unnecessarily duplicate EPA’s existing exercise of authority under FIFRA, and place tremendous burdens on growers, while having no impact on human health or environmental safety.