U.S. EPA Dismisses Treated Seed Petition

On September 28, 2022, the U.S. EPA responded to a petition which demanded from aggressive enforcement of registration and labeling requirements for systemic pesticides treated seeds as per and such treated seeds exemption as per the article 40 C.F.R. §152.25(a) should not cover treated seed without an adequate assessment of the risks (Pesticides like fungicides, insecticides and nematicides are applied to seeds prior to planting to protect them from diseases, insects, or other pests). The EPA did not agree with the petition claims as to the treated article exemption and thus is not granting the petition requests to either interpret or amend the regulatory text for the exemption to categorically exclude seed treated with systemic pesticides from the exemption.