Registration of endosulfan cancelled in Australia

While the global community debate on international ban on endosulfan
this week in Geneva, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary
Medicines Authority (APVMA) today advises that it has cancelled the
registration of the insecticide endosulfan.

This decision follows a recent assessment of new information by the
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and
Communities (DSEWPC) that the prolonged use of endosulfan is likely to
lead to adverse environmental effects via spray drift and run-off.

A full risk assessment conducted by DSEWPC concluded that these long
term risks could not be mitigated through restrictions on use or
variations to label instructions.

This is wonderful news for al the Australian NGOs and community groups
who have fought so hard to rid the environment from this toxic
chemical.

The APVMA stated in their press release that "From today, agricultural
products containing endosulfan are no longer registered in Australia.
The three current approvals for endosulfan have also been cancelled,
and the five products containing the chemical will be phased out over
the next two years.

"This time period has been imposed because of the relatively limited
amounts of endosulfan in use and is in line with phase-out periods
imposed by other national regulators who have similarly taken recent
action against endosulfan.

Risks to human health were not a factor in the APVMA decision. While
recent and emerging toxicological data was assessed by the Office of
Chemical Safety and Environmental Health, it has been determined that
the current regulatory regime has been effective in managing these
risks.

Some of the new environmental data on which the APVMA’s decision is
based emerged following the recent nomination of endosulfan to the
Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). This
nomination focussed more attention on endosulfan and produced a large
volume of new information on its environmental fate and effects."

Posted in: Endosulfan in Australia