All About the Food Quality Protection Act
By Christine DiFonzo, Pesticide Education and Larry Olsen, Integrated Pest Management
(Published in the IPM Report, Spring 1997)

Purpose of the Act
The Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) was designed to:

- Repeal the Delaney Clause for pesticides, and establish a single safety standard for raw and processed food

- Protect children from pesticide exposure

- Allow EPA to respond changes in science as they occur

The FQPA was signed in August 1996. The Act amended these two pieces of legislation:

- Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) which ensures food safety and sets tolerances for pesticide residues in raw and processed food

- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) which regulates the registration and use of pesticides.

 

Major Changes to FFDCA
1) Tolerances for residues. When setting tolerances for pesticide residues, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to:

- Consider children's special sensitivity and exposure to pesticides and include an additional safety factor of up to 10x to account for uncertainty in data relative to children.

- Group compounds with a common mechanism of action (for example, one tolerance for all organophosphates)

- Consider cumulative exposure through contact with air, food, water, pets, household, lawn and garden products

- Re-evaluate all existing tolerances to ensure they meet the new standard.

2) Testing for endocrine disrupters. The FQPA also requires that EPA test for effects from endocrine disrupters, compounds that mimic or block the effect of hormones like estrogen. All pesticides, and other substances that may have an impact in combination with pesticides, must be tested. The screening program must be planned within two years and implemented within three.

Major Changes To FIFRA
1) Minor Use Pesticides. The FQPA creates incentives to develop and maintain minor use registrations provided they do not pose unreasonable risks. It defines a "minor use pesticide" as one that is:

- Used on a crop that is grown on less than 300,000 acres

- Not economically viable for the registrant, but is safer than existing alternatives and is important for integrated pest management

2) Pesticide registrations. EPA is required to:

- Periodically review all pesticide registrations (proposed 15-year cycle).

- Develop criteria for reduced-risk pesticides and expedite their review for registration.

The Residue Cup
The new tolerance standard can be viewed as a cup filled with risk from aggregate exposure to pesticides with a common mechanism of action. When the cup is full, the registrants would have to investigate methods to reduce risk prior to adding pesticides or uses.

Potential Impacts of FQPA?
It is too early to know all the impacts of the new Act, but here are some possible effects:

- Tolerances may be lowered for many pesticides.

- Labels may be changed to reduce the exposure risk of the pesticide before it goes into the risk (residue) cup. Such labels might include changes in sections such as percentage active ingredient, personal protective equipment, number of applications, application rate, reentry intervals or preharvest intervals. It may be more difficult to obtain Section 18 exemptions for pesticide registrations but this does not seem to be a problem yet in 1997.

- Some pesticides or uses may be eliminated.

For more information
Contact your county MSU Extension office or Michigan Department of Agriculture in Lansing at (517) 373-1087.

Or see the following internet addresses:

Complete copy of FQPA
www.pestlaw.com/law/HR1627.htm

EPA home page for FQPA
www.epa.gov/opppsps1/fqpa/index.html

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Page maintained by Joy N. Landis
landisj@msu.edu
Last revision 07/16/98