As part of their reconsideration of the approvals, registrations and product labels associated with the insecticide dimethoate, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) are now calling for comments on the recently-released dimethoate proposed regulatory decisions report.
WAFarmers Grains Section welcomed the APVMA’s decision to maintain registration on cereals and legumes, but was concerned about proposed early season only restrictions on oilseeds and pastures.
“Dimethoate is a good product for mid to late season application on oilseeds, and changing the application pattern could compromise both the growth of the crop and the IPM practices on farm,” WAFarmers Grains Section President Duncan Young said.
“We understand that there are certain regulations that the APVMA needs to comply with, however given there are currently few restrictions on application of dimethoate in broadacre cropping, changes to the approved use of the chemical will undoubtedly be felt during the season.”
The APVMA proposes to maintain the approvals of dimethoate active constituents, vary the label approvals of the most recent label approval for 400 g/L dimethoate products, maintain the registrations of those products and the varied labels, cancel the registrations of home garden products containing more than 100 g/L dimethoate, and limit pack sizes of the agricultural 400 g/L dimethoate products to volumes of greater than one litre.
The APVMA called for comments on the proposed regulatory decision on omethoate in August. With their decision due on 1 December 2016, it may inform the findings of the dimethoate proposed regulatory decisions report, with comments due on 27 January 2017.
With input from our members, WAFarmers will make a submission to the report. Members are encouraged to contact WAFarmers Grains Executive Officer Maddison McNeil by phone (08 9486 2100) or email ([email protected]) to discuss the issue further or to submit their information.
