Crop protection group throws support behind current pest rules

RISE (Responsible Industry for a Sound Environment), a national trade association representing members of the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industry, has joined more than 350 pesticide user organizations in sending a letter to all members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voicing support for the pesticide regulatory system currently in place under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

This letter responds to legislation — S. 3283 — recently introduced by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) that would undermine the rigorous, science-based standards of FIFRA and threaten the availability of the safe and effective pesticide products that protect public health, pets, infrastructure, schools, waterways, green spaces, and food and agriculture production.

"Our members' role is to protect public health and safety, infrastructure, and the environment, so we must have the assurance of a federal regulatory process that supports science and innovation, along with safety and efficacy," says Megan Provost, RISE president. "The federal regulatory process established under FIFRA gives us this certainty with its robust scientific backing. Senator Booker's bill rejects 50 years of established federal and state regulation and science in favor of an approach where science is absent."

Provost continues by stressing the importance of the specialty pesticide and fertilizer industry and pesticide users to be engaged with their members of Congress and talk about the benefits of pesticide use and the existing regulatory framework.

"The start of this new Congress gives all of us an opportunity to reach out to our members of Congress to share our expertise about pesticide regulation and application and to learn whether our state's Senators are cosponsors of S. 3283," she says.

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Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash

Source: Greenhouse Grower