June 2, 2022 |
In Case You Missed It! |
NAAA Joins National Ag Coalition Expressing Concern Over the White House’s Reversal of Federal Support of Pesticide Preemption Policy |
The Solicitor General’s brief adopts a position that permits states to
mislabel glyphosate—or any pesticide—with cancer warnings despite
overwhelming scientific evidence that it does not pose a cancer risk.
NAAA joined 54 national and regional agricultural organizations in a letter to President Joe Biden expressing grave concern with his administration’s recent change in longstanding federal policy regarding the regulation and labeling of pesticide products.
On May 10, Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court advising the Court against hearing a case, arguing that federal pesticide registration and labeling requirements do not preclude states from imposing additional labeling requirements, even if those requirements run counter to federal findings. This position is a stunning reversal from numerous past administrations, Democratic and Republican alike, and poses great risks to our science-based regulatory system and global food systems. The product label at issue in this case involves the herbicide glyphosate. Nearly every pesticide regulatory body in the world, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has conducted robust scientific evaluations of glyphosate and reached the conclusion it is not a carcinogen and can be safely used.
The Solicitor General’s brief adopts a position that permits states to mislabel glyphosate—or any pesticide—with cancer warnings despite overwhelming scientific evidence that it does not pose a cancer risk. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the primary statute governing pesticides, is quite clear that “a pesticide is misbranded if its labeling bears any statement … which is false or misleading in any particular.”
The letter states that:
[This] dangerous reversal in position defies this federal statute, decreases access for farmers and other users to much-needed tools to produce food, fiber, and fuel safely and sustainably, and presents threats to science-based regulation and international trade. … At a crucial time when American farmers are striving to feed a world threatened by food shortages and insecurity, the likes of which we have not seen in decades, this reversal of policy greatly risks undermining the ability of U.S. agricultural producers to help meet global food needs. This policy also poses significant risks to farmers and other herbicide users for whom these tools are essential to combat climate change and other environmental challenges. With so much at stake, it is vital that we have durable, predictable, science-based policy on this matter that does not fluctuate between administrations. We strongly urge you to withdraw the brief establishing this new policy, fully considering the implications it holds for global food security, environmental sustainability, and the future of science-based regulation.
Read the full letter here. |
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