Released: Sept. 1, 2021

TIFTON, Ga. – The U.S. Peanut Federation joined  30 agricultural industry organizations to send a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan regarding their recent action on chlorpyrifos.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced in a press release it will stop the use of the pesticide chlorpyrifos on all food to better protect human health, particularly that of children and farmworkers. In a final rule released Aug. 18, 2021, EPA is revoking all “tolerances” for chlorpyrifos, which establish an amount of a pesticide that is allowed on food. In addition, the agency will issue a Notice of Intent to Cancel under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act to cancel registered food uses of chlorpyrifos associated with the revoked tolerances.

Within the letter, the industry organizations stated, “EPA’s action has put growers, agricultural stakeholders, and supply chains in an unfair and impossible position through no fault of their own. This is compounded by the fact that the Agency has not offered sufficient guidance to stakeholders on how they should expect to comply with this action – guidance which should have been ready at the time it was announced. We urge you to expeditiously provide stakeholders and the public much-needed clarity regarding the continued use and existence of chlorpyrifos in supply chains.”

For additional information on the Georgia Peanut Commission and legislative updates, visit www.gapeanuts.com.

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