A coalition of attorneys general is urging the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a new rule that would create uniform labeling requirements on pesticide products across the country. By streamlining the process and preempting misbranding in states like California, it is hoped the rule would lift the burdens currently placed on farmers across the country.
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act allows each state to create separate requirements that manufacturers must include when labeling their products. In some instances, manufacturers are forced to label products with health information that’s inconsistent with EPA’s findings about the product’s health effects. California’s Prop 65 forces manufacturers to label products containing glyphosate as likely carcinogenic, even though the EPA findings disagree. The proposed rule would preempt Prop 65 and declare that any state labeling requirements inconsistent with the EPA’s findings would constitute misbranding under FIFRA.
The current patchwork labeling requirements have led to years-long litigation.