DPR CUTS TIME, COSTS FOR PESTICIDE REGISTRATION

SACRAMENTO -- The California Department of Pesticide Regulation today announced actions to streamline the state's pesticide registration process and help bring new, less-toxic pesticides to market more quickly.

Acting Director Paul Gosselin described actions on DPR's Registration Reform Initiative at the annual meeting of the Western Plant Health Association, which represents pesticide manufacturers, distributors, formulators and retailers in California, Arizona and Hawaii.

"DPR is committed to making pesticide registration more efficient and effective," said Gosselin. "We have identified ways to speed up the California registration process without compromising the toughest pesticide health and safety standards in the nation.

"We also find that many new pesticides coming on the market are less toxic, or they mimic natural pest control processes, so the environment also stands to benefit from more efficient pesticide registration," said Gosselin.

DPR began its Registration Reform Initiative in 2001 with the goal of improving Registration Branch services while coping with branch staffing cutbacks. In addition to internal review and discussion of registration policies and regulations, DPR has held workshops to receive industry suggestions and feedback.

Gosselin said the initiative identified several changes in policy and regulation that will reduce delays in new registrations, eliminate unnecessary workload and costs for registrants, and speed up approval of new-generation pesticides:

• DPR plans to eliminate a mandatory requirement for submission and review of efficacy data to support all new registrations. The proposal, in the form of new regulations, would give DPR more discretion and flexibility on reviewing efficacy data.


• DPR will not delay registration of new products for which efficacy data is pending. (Efficacy data would still be required in advance for new public health products, such as antimicrobials.)


• DPR has completed a pilot project to keep registrants up to date on pending registrations via e-mail. "E-notification" -- which generates e-mail to registrants after each step in registration -- expedites the process by confirming that a requirement has been met or that issues remain.


• DPR will change its policy requiring pesticide residue data for product registration. Since 1996, U.S. EPA has reassessed residue standards for food and feed crops to establish new, more stringent safety levels nationwide. Given federal action, DPR will no longer routinely require residue data for registration in California. DPR will retain the right to require data on a case-by-case basis.

Spending less time on residue reviews for new California registrations also will give DPR scientists more time for "worksharing" with U.S. EPA, Gosselin told the Western Plant Health Association audience. In recent years, DPR and U.S. EPA have pooled their expertise, exchanging information and collaborating on registration and other regulatory issues.

Despite budget cuts, DPR has continued working with U.S. EPA and a U.S. Department of Agriculture program (IR-4) that develops new pesticide residue data for fruit, nut, and vegetable crops. DPR uses the IR-4 data to conduct residue reviews, which in turn are used by U.S. EPA to set allowable residue levels on fresh produce.

"Look for DPR and U.S. EPA to continue workshare efforts that maximize the use of our resources," Gosselin told the industry representatives. "We're now in discussions with EPA to expand DPR's role in supporting federal registration of specialty crop products that are most important to California agribusiness."

One of six boards and departments within Cal/EPA, DPR regulates the sale and use of pesticides to protect human health and the environment.

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