The US EPA on Feb. 14 issued an Existing Stocks Order to allow for the limited sale and distribution of dicamba over-the-top (OTT) products XtendiMax, Engenia, and Tavium that were already in the possession of growers or in the channels of trade and outside the control of pesticide companies as of Feb. 6, 2024.
The order is in response to a Feb. 6 ruling by the US District Court of Arizona vacating the 2020 registrations for the OTT dicamba products (GM Feb. 9, p. 34). The order is limited in time and scope, allowing only for certain sales, distribution, and uses of existing stocks of these formerly registered dicamba products for the 2024 growing season.
The order also prohibits the use of these dicamba products except where the use is consistent with the previously approved labeling, which included measures intended to reduce environmental damage caused by offsite movement of the pesticide.
EPA said it has received ample evidence that millions of gallons of OTT dicamba had already entered the channels of trade prior to Feb. 6. Additionally, it said most growers have already placed orders for dicamba-tolerant seed for the 2024 growing season and, given the timing of these registrations being vacated, are not able to pivot to another herbicide-tolerant seed and herbicide system.
“ARA is extremely grateful for the quick action taken by EPA to issue an Existing Stocks Order for the dicamba product registrations vacated by the federal court in Arizona on Feb. 6, 2024,” said Daren Coppock, President and CEO of the Agricultural Retailers Association (ARA).
“This order will allow for the continued distribution, sale, and use of these products within the channels of trade and growers’ possession consistent with the FIFRA approved labels,” Coppock added. “As EPA noted in the order, ARA’s consistent position has been that, absent an EPA order allowing for the limited sale, distribution, and use of existing stocks, there will be unnecessary chaos and economic harm to agricultural retailers, distributors, and the farmers they serve.”