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EPA Announces New Policy for Registrants Voluntarily to Disclose Inert Ingredients in Antimicrobial Products
By Lisa M. Campbell, Heather F. Collins, M.S., and Barbara A. Christianson On December 10, 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new policy that will allow registrants of antimicrobial pesticide products voluntarily to disclose all inert ingredients more efficiently in response to the request of retailers, states, and industry. Registrants who wish to disclose all inert ingredient can choose to do so in three ways under the new policy:
EPA states that it will allow registrants to use alternate nomenclature to disclose inert ingredients. This policy is effective as of January 16, 2021. EPA states that there is no statutory or regulatory requirement to identify inert ingredients in the ingredient statement, except when EPA determines that such inert ingredients may pose a hazard to humans or the environment. EPA states that if EPA determines an inert ingredient may pose a hazard, EPA may determine that the name of the inert ingredient must be listed in the ingredient statement on a case-by-case basis for either risk-based or hazard-based reasons. Examples include the following ingredients:
EPA’s long-standing policy, as stated in its Label Review Manual, has been that “if a registrant wants to list a particular inert ingredient in the ingredient statement, the registrant should list all inert ingredients directly below the ingredient statement in descending order by weight. A partial listing on the label could be misleading.” EPA’s new policy applies to voluntary identification of inert ingredients using alternate nomenclature and not to cases where EPA directs registrants to list particular inert ingredients because of risk-based or hazard-based reasons. EPA states that beginning December 15, 2020, the Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) will review antimicrobial pesticide applications for voluntary inert ingredient disclosure. Under this new process, EPA states that if a registrant chooses to utilize alternate chemical nomenclature on its product labeling, the registrant must resubmit the Confidential Statement of Formula (CSF) containing the inert ingredient as approved on the existing formulation as well as the alternate chemical nomenclature. EPA requires that a “crosswalk” between the approved nomenclature of the CSF and the alternate nomenclature be provided with the registrants’ non-Pesticide Registration Improvement Extension Act (PRIA 4) application, which will fall under a 90-day review. If registrants choose to use alternate nomenclature, EPA encourages using the following sources:
If a registrant chooses to disclose voluntarily inert ingredients on the label, the registrant should list all of the inert ingredients directly below the ingredient statement in descending order by weight, so that the list does not interfere with the required labeling information. If space is limited, however, to avoid crowding of required labeling information, a referral statement may be used directing the reader to the back or side panel for the full list of inert ingredients in descending order by weight. The referral statement should be placed directly below the ingredient statement with an asterisk or some other equivalent symbol connecting the “Inert Ingredients” or “Other Ingredients” heading in the ingredient statement with the full list of inert ingredients placed on the back or side panel of the label. For example, an acceptable referral statement is “*See back panel for complete inert ingredient statement,” and acceptable corresponding text on the back panel is “*Inert Ingredients: Inert A, Inert B., etc.” When registrants choose to add a website address or quick response (QR) code to their labeling that leads to inert ingredient information, EPA asks that registrants, in a cover letter transmitting the labeling amendment application, self-certify that the inert ingredient information provided on the registrant’s website(s) and in other marketing materials is consistent with the information provided on the latest approved CSF. EPA states that registrants do not need to amend its their master label or notify EPA before adding an inert ingredient statement to a website, provided that the site is not referenced on the product label. In such cases, the application process outlined below does not apply. EPA states that no other actions should be included with inert ingredient disclosure applications. The following information is required to be included in the application:
According to EPA, the scope of this policy is currently limited to antimicrobial pesticide products. EPA states that it may consider expanding to conventional pesticide and biopesticide products in the future. Additional information is available here. |