On Monday April 5, 2010, EPA issued their final cancellation order for spirotetramat (Movento) which includes provisions for the use of existing product and supersedes the interim cancellation order issued on March 12. In summary, the cancellation order states that it is unlawful for Bayer to sell or distribute Movento, but allows for the use, sale or distribution of Movento already in possession by retailers, distributors and end-users under the provisions of the previously-approved label. As you likely know, the Movento registration was terminated because of a judicial action related to a procedural failure on the part of the EPA (failure to publish a notice of receipt of the spirotetramt registration application in the Federal Register). As for the future, EPA will now consider Bayer’s original application for registration (filed in October, 2006) as pending registration before the Agency. EPA will further take into account public comments received in Aug 2009 and March 2010, to determine whether the Movento application for registration should be granted (re-labeled). For a summary of comments and a full description of the reasons for the EPA decision, see the Spirotetramat-Final Cancellation Order at this link.

Optimistically, a new Movento registration could be granted within the next several months. This estimate is based solely on two statements found in the Final Cancellation Order. First, EPA continues to believe that spirotetramat has a more favorable risk profile in terms of both human health and the environment than the registered alternatives. Secondly, in relation to spirotetramat and bee safety, EPA continues to believe that the label restrictions (present on the previous Movento label) minimize any potential risk to bees. How and when EPA ultimately decides on the issue is unknown. However, I’m confident that if the science provided in the final cancellation order is applied to the re-registration process, we will see a new Movento label by the fall when whiteflies start infesting produce again.

To contact John Palumbo go to: jpalumbo@ag.arizona.edu

For questions or comments on any of the topics please contact Marco Pena at the Yuma Agricultural Center.
College of Agriculture, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.